the wisdom to know the difference

Bobolink Trail • 22 Jul 2026

Lord, grant us the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, blah blah blah.

—Serenity Prayer (paraphrased); Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971

After weeks of dry weather and almost no rain, a brief Tuesday night rainshower awoke the region’s chlorophyl, while flora everywhere spouted new leaves and wafted like desert heat waves in the sunlight. Or so it appeared to our fearless adventurers, as they wandered down the Bobolink Trail, along with a plethora of joggers, dog walkers, cyclists, summer camps, and humidity.

The dogs and summer camp kids plunged into the creek, splashing New Zealand mud snails hither and yon, despite nearby warning signs advising them not to do so. Well, the dogs can’t read, so ok; and it’s summer, so the kids probably can’t read anything that’s not on their phones, so ok. Meanwhile, S and D gesticulated at the sign, and scowled, and grunted, and stomped their feet, and rolled their eyes.

So they decided to go to Neptune.

P2 Neptune Mountaineering.

S had an iced coffee and a healthy-looking blueberry muffin, while D had some coffee cake and a normal coffee. Rhiannon was on the radio when they arrived, then for some reason diverged into a few tracks of Van Morrison (which is like mud-snails for the ears), then on to Pink Floyd, so that was ok, and a reasonable way to conclude the day’s festivities.

☶