The Things I Carried

I don’t go for hikes.  “Hike” implies a backpack, expensive shoes and a degree of fitness I do not possess.  I do go for walks though.  They are usually horizontal with brief stretches in the diagonal.  This weekend I went for walks. 

I went for a walk at the Gualala Regional Park.  I walked around the headlands, and then down along the beach, trudging through the sand.  My calves started to ache about five minutes into the sand, but I considered it a warm-up for the stairs up the 115-foot lighthouse I planned to visit later. 

I always carry things when I walk.  Here’s what I carried for my walk at the park: 

1–Sixteen ounces of water in my North Coast Brewing Company metal water bottle. Mine is brushed aluminum, thus probably hastening the dementia, except it’s  lined with plastic, or that stuff they’re not supposed to be lined with because it might cause cancer.  But it’s a water bottle, and it’s what the cool kids are carrying. 

2–SPF 55 sunblock lotion because. . . well, I’ve always had a feeling of kinship with vampires.  Not the looking sexy as hell part, or the sucking blood part, or the holding people in thrall part.  Just the withering in sunlight part.  In addition to slathering it all over exposed skin, I carry a tube. 

3–A tangelo—in case I get trapped for days without food, or just get hungry in the parking lot. 

4–My film camera. 

5–My digital camera, affectionately known as “the little camera.”  The little camera is growing up fast.  I notice I take many more digital photos than film now. 

6–Two rolls of film for the film camera. 

7–Extra batteries for the film camera. 

8–Telephoto zoom lens for the film camera. 

9–Extra batteries for the digital camera. 

10–A journal. 

11–A pen. 

12–Another pen.  Why?  I found it in the bag when I was putting everything else in. 

13–A book. A hardback book.  Why?  Because I was reading it at breakfast and it was still in the bag. 

14–My car keys.

15–My room key.  No reason.  I could have put it in my purse which was locked in the trunk, but it was in my pocket.  It makes me feel better there.  I don’t know why. 

What didn’t I carry:  Let’s see, that would be a first aid kit (I’ve got one in the car) and a cell phone.  My personal cell phone gets zero bars in Gualala, and in this I am like everyone else in America unless they have Verizon.  

So, if I roll down the cliff, breaking my ankle, to lie helpless at the edge of the river, I have one tangelo and some water.  I can’t call for help, but I can take lots of pictures of the wildlife, and after all, I have a book.  I think I’m going to be okay.