My Father's Desk

One of my fondest memories from my childhood is of sitting next to my Dad as he corrected his papers at night.  Dad was a teacher and, appropriately, he had an old teacher's desk that sat in our walk-up attic which was really his office and a play room for us kids.  On each side of his desk, above the set of drawers, was a board that pulled out pretty far.  I would sit at it and draw a picture for my Dad as he corrected his papers.  My sibs and I would take turns at the slide out board, drawing pictures for our Dad.

 

Dad had one of those red grease type of pencils that he used; the kind that when it was almost worn flat you would peel it down to expose more of the marker.  When we were finished with our drawings, Dad would write a big "A+" in red in the upper corner of our drawing and he would circle the A+.  Sometimes he'd underline it twice or sometimes he'd put 2 exclamation marks after it.  This delighted us beyond belief.

While we waited to take our turns at the drawing board, we would play on the floor with the blocks that our Dad had made for us out of 2x4's.  There were 3 different lengths of blocks; we had several of each length and all had been sanded smooth and had some sort of finish on them. 

My father's oak desk also came with a teacher's oak chair.  This chair could swivel and lean way back.  The chair had wheels that squeaked and screeched when they rolled and the huge spring that allowed you to lean back made a sort of clanking sound when you did.

 

These are the sounds that would lull me to sleep at night, my Dad correcting his papers long after we'd go to bed.  Often times these sounds were combined with my Mom playing the piano one floor below me and that's a whole other story for another time.

 

This would be a wonderful memory and a wonderful story on its own; at least for me, but it gets better; at least for me.  I have the desk now; I have the grease pencil too.  We were offered the desk when Mom sold her home in 2007 and were thrilled to have it.  Our younger son helped my husband disassemble it to get it down from the attic.  He restored it beautifully.

 
It now sits in our study.  The wheels on the chair still screech and it clanks when you lean back on it.  To others, this would be annoying I'd think.  To me it's a comforting sound and I wouldn't have it any other way.        

 

 

 

 

 

 

All About Me - 34 Things

While on facebook, about a year ago, I had read something on someone's page entitled "25 Things."  Someone had asked them to write 25 random sort of things about themselves and then that person, in turn, would ask other people to do the same and so on.  Well, I was asked to do that too and I have been remiss.  I had doubted that I could come up with 15 things (perhaps 10 I could do) let alone 25.  And besides, who would really want to read something about me?  How could I write something about me?  Why would anyone find anything interesting about me?  How does one write about ones' self without coming across as, well, oh I don't know, narcissistic? 

 
But then I thought about it; dismissed and then thought some more.  This assignment was to write about me.  "You have permission," I thought, "to write about yourself, with no apologies or explanations.  You should take it and run with it!"     

And so, I have.  I embraced my assignment and the more things I wrote about me, the more I came up with.  I've written a total of 34 things!  I thought about things that I hadn't thought about in years. I wrote about things that I had never said to anyone before.  I have numbered them and put the main sentence in bold.  If you, the reader, only want a short list please feel free to not read any further beyond a bolded sentence!  After all, the assignment was just to list things out, not to expand upon them the way I have. But you know me -- by now -- I can't leave well enough alone and I tend to be quite wordy, although I try to chose my words wisely.

My post here strays from my usual outdoor nature theme.  But, it is my blog after all and today, it's all about me.  I hope you can suffer through it! 

 
 

1.  My favorite color is green.

2.  I love daisies.  

They are so simple and happy and sweet and they make me smile.  They also represent peace and love!  On our wedding day, Mike bought me 12 dozen daisies (yes, that’s 144 daisies).  We had bunches of daisies throughout our small apartment.  (I know, right?!) I was in daisy heaven and the scent was intoxicating.  It was truly magical!

 

3.  I used to roller skate when I was young for fun and in competition. Speed skating and pairs routine and dance.   

When I was in 4th grade, the summer after actually, my sibs and I were in a competition.  We made it through  “states” which was held locally.  Then on to “regional's” which was in Buffalo, NY.  Then on to “Nationals” held in Lincoln, Nebraska.  My Mom made our pretty skating outfits.  We traveled to all these places in a school bus that my Dad converted into a camper.  Lucky for us that my Dad was a school teacher so we got to do all sorts of fun stuff in the summers.  As if living on a lake and having woods and rock cliffs behind us wasn’t  fantastic enough on its own -- which it was!!

4.  When I was a child I was afraid of the dark and I would sleep under the covers but it got really stuffy.  I bet I could have suffocated.

5.  I was tear-gassed once in Florida.

Once is enough.  I don’t recommend it.  It was New Years Eve in 1973 (or was it 1974? So I was 16 I guess.) I was with my family down in Ft Lauderdale.  Crowds were gathering as dusk drew near and it was a festive atmosphere with children there and women in evening gowns.  Police were stationed on every corner will billy clubs.  They asked a crowd of people to leave and when they didn’t, the police started clubbing people.  Someone right in front of me got hit on the head (for no apparent reason) with a billy club.  The cops then started herding everyone down a main street and they then shot tear gas canisters at the crowd.  I grabbed my sister and we ran.  It was hard to breath and my sister couldn’t see because she had contacts that got messed up.  The cops started this and I saw many cases of police brutality that night.

 

6.  In the spring of 1972, I slept in Carlton Fisk’s home, in his bedroom, in his bed!

We were on an exchange trip with the high school band in New Hampshire.  Carlton Fisk’s sister, Janet, was in the chorus so we were assigned to her home.  Mrs. Fisk explained to me who her son was (I didn’t know), who at that point was with the Red Sox.  She was very nice and made us a bag lunch for the trip home!

7.  I have shaken (shook?) the hand (hands?) of Governor Ella Grasso and Governor Jodi Rell, AND:

I met Governor Lowell Weicker once while he was a senator.  He is very tall.  I was in attendance at Girls State when former Governor Thomas Meskill was the keynote speaker.  He is very short and uninspiring.  Governor Grasso came to Girls’ State another year (oh, I went to Girls’ State in 1974 as a “delegate” in my junior year of high school and went back for 4 years as a counselor).  When Ella Grasso entered the room , you felt her presence.   She was a good Governor and a great lady!  For those of you who don’t know, she died in office.  You should Google her!  Jodi Rell became, reluctantly I feel, our Governor when John Roland went to jail.  I feel she truly rose to the occasion and I voted for her when she ran for re-election, although I am a democrat and she, a republican.  I thanked her, when I met her, for bringing integrity back to the “office” and I told her that I hoped she would run and that I would vote for her.  She did and I did and the rest is history!

8.  I ran into Meg Ryan once (literally) while we were walking down Central Park South, AND:

I had a conversation nearly 5 years ago with Jill Clayburgh, just shortly before her passing.  We were both “Wheaton Moms” and it was graduation day.  Out of all her accomplishments and accolades, etc., I could tell that this day was one her of best and most joyous and topped anything else.  She was beaming as she talked about her son, Michael.  She wore no makeup as far as I could tell and was absolutely radiant, although she must have been ill at the time, which the public wasn’t aware of.  

9.  I used to water ski when I was young

Growing up on the lake and all, it was almost a requirement and it terrified me - looking down at the water rushing beneath my skis.  I could slalom (1 ski only.  I’d start with 2 and drop one) and jump the wake back and forth.

10.  I like to kayak but I am afraid of the water.  

I still go.  I know my fears are all  in my head.  No, there are no monsters living in the water.  But you should have seen the mother of all snapping turtles that I encountered once.  I no longer dangle my fingers in the water while “coasting” along in the kayak!

 

11. I am irrationally afraid of spiders.

I’m cool with snakes, mice, frogs, salamanders and the like.

12.  I miss my “boys” immeasurably......

….....and every now and then, after 2:00 PM if I am home, for a fleeting moment, I expect to see them come walking down the driveway from off the school bus; and then I remember (what year it is and how old they are!) My biggest hope for them is that they’ll always know how much they are loved.  And that they know they can always count on me and they know that I am their biggest fan!  A mother’s love knows no bounds even if her babies are full grown and off on their own!  I love them SO much, I ache!

13.  When I was a child, my family traveled a lot and went camping in the summer in the converted school bus/camper.

In the fall we’d go up north for the weekend to New Hampshire or Vermont.  I loved those times and places.  I’ve been to 24 states and Canada.  When my own boys were small we had an RV and would do a little traveling and camping. We took practically the same route (as I did in 7th grade) down to FL one spring all the way to Key West.

 14.  When I was a kid, between us Dibble girls and the Pelletier neighbors, there were 10 of us.  

Sometimes, while playing in the Pelletier's front yard someone would yell, “pig pile” and we’d flop to the ground and pile onto one another.  This was scary and I think I could have been crushed!   We probably could have used a bit more supervision!

 15.  We (the 10 of us) used to play on this old waterlogged wooden rowboat in the water.  

We’d get under it and sometimes we’d roll it over and over.  Again, more supervision would have been a good thing! I shudder to think of all the bad things that could have happened to me while at play when I was a child and as a result, I never let my own boys do anything fun when they were small.

16.  Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens really ARE a few of my favorite things!

17.  For many years I worked for a few various stock brokerage firms as a sales assistant.  

In an effort to better assist the 2 brokers that I worked for as well as earn a share (albeit very small share) of the commissions, I became licensed as a stockbroker.  (The license is called a "series 7")  This involved many months of studying volumes (literally) of information after which I would sit for a 6 hour exam.   (There is a point to my story -- wait for it).  The firm hired interns (men) to train and sit for the exam too, but this was different from what I was doing.  They were paid to study at the office for 8 hours a day and received all sorts of help and input  and, well, training!  I worked 8 hours a day and then studied at night on my own.  (Have you seen the movie “Working Girl?”)   This was years before my sweet babies were born.  I couldn’t have done it otherwise, and wouldn’t have wanted to and that would have been fine.  So, the exam was held in Boston. (Long before the internet and on-line classes, exams, etc.)  When the time came, and here is the point of my story, my dear hubby didn’t want me to worry about having to drive up there and find the place and find parking, etc., so he drove me there and dropped me off.  He then drove the 90 minutes back home.  He then drove back up there to pick me up!  Wow!  That is the point of my story, really.  6 hours of driving for him because he didn’t want there to be any additional stress on me.  But here's the kicker, when driving back to pick me up, poor Mike went west on the Mass Pike instead of east and had to drive 30 minutes before he could get off and turn around!  So, that’s an additional hour of driving!  He was very supportive!  I aced the exam, of course.  The interns at the office had to take it twice!

 18.  I have flown in a helicopter on a few different occasions.  

I took business trips twice down to Manhattan. I didn’t care for the ride.  I don’t really like to fly but my fears will not stop me from flying somewhere if I need to.  I’d just rather not do it on purpose.   

19.  I used to have dreams about escaping from someone, presumably a kidnapper, and running in the middle of the night.  

I was afraid (in my dream) that I wouldn’t get away because I wouldn’t be able to run far enough, as I would become out of breath.  During my waking hours I took up running and was a bit obsessed with it.  I stopped having the dream after a short while.  I also, at that same time, was obsessed with being able to run for help if I was out in the woods with my boys and there was an accident or something.  Maybe they’d break their leg or get a bad cut and I’d have to carry them and/or run for help.  I wanted to be able to do everything I could to save them and protect them.  I needed to be in tip top shape and prepared for them; and I was!  Running up and down in the stairwells for 45 minutes during lunch at my office building in Hartford was part of my daily regimen.

 20.  Some day I’d like to visit all the National Parks.

I’d also like to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine!  2175 miles.  I love the woods.  There is a peacefulness and a calm that comes over me when I am hiking, locally, in the woods.  And I love the solitude too.  I have a bit of a "wanderlust" for sure.  I just haven't wandered anywhere - yet!

21.  I have seen the tidal bore come in, in the Bay of Fundy.

I recommend witnessing this awesome natural event!  

22.  We had all sorts of pets when I was a child, including a small alligator named Jack.

Some unusual pets that my boys had when they were small included a ball python and a tarantula.  I love dogs and I love cats.  I adore baby animals of any sort!  (and baby humans too!)

23.  First grade Mrs. Jansen’s class when JFK was shot.  

We were sent home.  5th grade Mr. Winkle’s class when RFK was shot.  In Florida at my Grandmother’s when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.  At work in Hartford when the Challenger exploded.  In home office watching live TV when The Towers were hit.

24.  My nickname from childhood is Shaz which is short for Shazam.

My sibs, mother, an Uncle and a few close friends still address me this way, which I like.

25.  6th grade was my hardest grade of all.  

I liked it and I liked school and I liked my teachers, but it was a hard one for me.  

 26.  I was a tomboy when I was young.  

Maybe I still am.  I always wanted to have boys, when my thoughts later on were of having children.  However, I adore seeing little girls all dressed up in their birthday party dresses or jumpers with white tights and black patent leather shoes and barrettes in their hair and if I had had girls, I would have dressed them like that and we would have had tea parties.  They still would have been encouraged to put on “play” clothes and to go out and get dirty but they definitely would have had their dresses, tights and shoes!

 27.   I just recently took the NRA basic pistol course.  

                This is the course you need to take to apply for a pistol permit, which I have done.  I am not a gun nut and I don’t go target shooting.  I would never go hunting as I would never want to kill anything, not even the spiders that I am afraid of.  I shoo them out the door with a broom. ( OK, hornets.  I would kill hornets.)  That’s about it.  But I wanted to be able to handle a pistol and know how to use it and not be afraid it.  I wanted it for home protection as in the case of a home invasion.  It would be fine with me if no one owned a gun but I live in the real world.   So, I have fired a 40 semi-automatic Glock,  a 22 semi-automatic target gun and a 380 semi-automatic Ruger.  I now know what to expect if I need to fire a gun.  I own a 9mm Ruger.  It is locked in a safe.  It has the “safety “ on.  I know where the key to the safe is.  It is hidden.  I am prepared in the event of a home invasion.   I hope it never happens but if it does, I am ready to protect myself and my family.   The shot gun that we used to have for such purposes would have had a heck of a kick back and would most likely have sent me flying and even knocked me out if I ever fired it.    

28.  My sister Laurie died in 2008 when she was 53.

                I miss her dearly and think of her every day.  She was my favorite sister.  (sorry all you others, if you're reading this.  But, admit it, I think Laurie was everyone's favorite!)  At age 56 I often think that I'm living on borrowed time.  And, as much as I try to take good care of myself and I keep myself fairly fit, I can't help thinking that that all doesn't matter.  I think that I may die "young" also.  I'd really REALLY rather not!  I can't express this adequately enough!    

29.  I have gone up in the air in a hot air balloon.

                OK, so it was tethered at the time and I only went up 20 feet but still!   The bigger thrill, really, was seeing it through the trees as it began to descend in preparation of landing.  I hopped in my car, grabbed my camera and followed it to where it landed.  I helped to disassemble it in return for the "ride."

30.  I have ridden in a rumble seat! 

                When we were kids our Dad took off the trunk cover of the car and bolted down a bench seat from our school bus inside the trunk.  So there we were, taking turns riding out in the open in the rumble seat in the trunk.  And, with no seat belts!!  I learned something about this that, all these some 50 years later, I still remember clearly:  You can't really eat an ice cream cone while going 40 mph out in the open!  It just doesn't work.  It's pretty messy.  I don't recommend it.  The other thing I learned was that I would never let my own kids do, even a fraction, of all the cool things I did when I was growing up.  What a great childhood I had.  My own kids?  Well I think they were just pretty board most of the time.  I mean: no rumble seat, no water skiing or playing in a water logged row boat, no pig piling, no bow and arrows, no, no no!  Just no!  Well, there is a whole other blog to write there some other time!   

31.  I've always wished I could sing!

            No, not professionally and certainly not in front of anyone or for anyone.  But, merely for my own satisfaction and enjoyment when I am alone, (that is to say, by myself).  I'd love to just be able to sing.  And so I think about what sort of voice would I want?  Who's voice would I want to have come out of my mouth if I opened it to sing?  And there are so many that I like but I keep on going back to either Karen Carpenter or Linda Ronstadt.  I'll just leave it at that!

32.  I feel comfortable by myself. 

            That is to say that I enjoy my own company.  I genuinely like people and I am somewhat outgoing but I also like being alone or by myself.  I don't feel "alone" when I'm by myself and like the quiet time.  But what I also mean to say is that I would have no problem, say, going to a movie by myself or something along those lines.  I never have done that though.  I do hike by myself in the woods and I love it!  I suppose these are 2 different sort of things but, there you have it!

33.  3 of the best days of my life ever, and there’ll be no topping them, were on: March 5, 1979,  May 3rd 1986 and March 17, 1990.   

34.  Sometimes I’m afraid of “missing the boat.”  

            There is so much I'd like to do.  (Bungee jumping, by the way, is not one of them, nor is parachuting.)  I often think of my own mortality and I’m scared.  But if nothing else, I’ll always have #33, and that is enough for me. That is way more than enough.  Please don't get me started on writing about my boys!!

Springer & Katahdin

"When it's late in the evening I go up the hill,

And survey all my kingdom while everything's still.

Only me and the sky and an old whipporwill

Singing songs in the twilight on Mockingbird Hill."

~ Les Paul and Mary Ford: 1951, Lyrics by Vaughn Horton,

"Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom."  If you are 50 or older, you'll remember a simpler time when you and your sibs, and perhaps a neighbor kid or two, piled around the TV to watch (the original) "Wild Kingdom."  This was our Animal Planet or Discovery Channel.  What a great show.  Living here in rural northeastern Connecticut, though, down a long driveway into the woods, all I need to do is just look out into my backyard to know that I am living in my own little "Wild Kingdom."  Deer, turkeys, foxes, rabits, bobcats (yes, a bobcat!  One snatched up a rabbit.  Circle of life!) and groundhogs abound mixed in, of course, with the ususal critters such as squirrels, chipmunks, snapping turtles and all sorts of birds.  There are times too, around dusk, that I feel as if I am living in an episode of Zoorama.  You remember the show, based in the San Diego Zoo, that started with a whailing or a whoppoing of some sort of creature.  It started low and slow, becoming increasingly louder and faster.  Although I thought this was a bird of sorts, I've since learned that it was a monkey of sorts; a Probiscis monkey I think.  And while there are no Probiscis monkeys in my yard, there is some sort of bird mocking it's call.  I swear!   

If you've read my blog in the past you'll know about the deer in our yard who eat the whole corn (versus cracked corn) that we put out for them.  We have a few generations of them that we've come to recognize.  There is a beautiful buck, around 2 years old and his sister who has a limp when she walks.  Two little bambie types have been stringing along with them for a few months and I believe the one with the limp is the mom.  We all have been captivated watching them saunter down our driveway or on the other side of the stonewall, approaching the feeding trough to see if we've remembered to put the corn out for them.  At times they are sorely dissappointed, I suspect, to find that some of the others have beat them to their feast.  No matter, they'll be back.

I've observed, on many occassions, the 4 of them approaching the trough only to see the buck hanging back a bit, seemingly serving as a lookout, while the others eat all the corn.  He goes to check it once they have had their fill, but alas, they never leave any for him.  Not to worry, there have been several times when I see the buck approach alone and he then proceeds to eat it all himself.  I also know that several of our neighbors put corn out for the deer. 

When the deer are done they walk around the yard grazing and sometimes lying in the shade to nap.  We've been asked whether we have given names to "our" deer but it actually has never occured to me to do so.  After all, they aren't our deer.  They are no more our pets than the wild turkeys are or the chipmunks and rabbits.  We coexist and actually it is we who have invaded their habitat and home.  I can't help but wonder if they have a few "pet" names for us.             

Having said all that, however, I couldn't help but to name the younger ones after watching the antics of these two bambies a few weeks back.  The two have only recently lost all their spots and have begun to roam the area together without their mom and their uncle, the buck, (Uncle Buck-thus named) although I'm sure those other 2 are very close by and keeping an eye on the youngins.  So, the two come sauntering down the yard early one morining and proceed to eat all the corn.  After walking into the front yard to graze for 10 minutes or so they return to the trough, presumably to eat more corn.  There is none.  They walk out front to graze some more and then 10 minutes later they again return to check out the trough.  Empty.  They have learned from their mom and Uncle Buck that when they go to the trough there is corn there to eat.  Now, they are out on their own and alas, this system of acquiring food does not seem to be working. 

"Is there a flaw?  Maybe we haven't waited long enough."

You can only imagine what they are thinking. 

"There is supposed to be corn there.  It always works when we go there with mom and Uncle Buck.  What are we doing wrong?  Well, lets just take a nap in the shade then." 

A few minutes later Uncle Buck saunters down toward the trough and the bambies are quickly on their feet and following him close behind.  "He'll show us how it's done."   

But of course there is no corn there and the three of them saunter back up the driveway and into the woods.

In watching this all play out, I  was reminded of something that I observed years ago.  I would think of this story now and then, telling this ancedote to myself for my own amusement.  My story has to do with laundry and underwear and it goes like this:

"Where does my underwear come from?" is an age old question that small boys and men have been pondering forever.  Men, typically, don't discover the mystery of where their underwear really comes from until they have children.  Whether they are 6, 16 or 36 they are perplexed, but have come to accept, that every time they open their dresser drawer there will be underwear.  Even if they took the last pair the morning before when they open the drawer the next day, surprise, underwear!  How do they do that, the underwear?   Don't question it they think, just shut up - lest you jinx it - and be happy and accept it.

It wasn't until we had our first child and I became increasingly busy with mom and helpless infant things, that my husband finally uncovered the mystery of the underwear.  He knew, correctly, that there had to be an explanation for it and it couldn't be all this "magical thinking."  He now knew where underwear came from and he knew where and how to get it if it wasn't in the drawer when he needed it.  Go to the back room where those 2 big white metal boxes are.  One of them is called a "dryer."  Open it.  Surprise!  Underwear!  Oh thank goodness, mystery solved.  No longer at the mercy of the magic dresser drawer, underwear really comes from the dryer.

I couldn't help but wonder if the bambies had the same sort of magical thinking.  Go to the trough and there will be corn!  Too cute.  Too precious!  These bambies each needed a name now.  No, I do not own these deer.  But it was now clear that they owned me.

I decided that I will call them, Springer and Katahdin.

Disclaimer and Note: 

The underwear story is not meant to be a knock to my husband but rather a knock to me and an admittance by myself that I did not always keep up with things early after the birth of our first child.  And, truth be told and more often than not, if you need underwear in our house today we still need to go to the dryer!

Note:  For those of you who read my blog you know that I am a backcountry hiker wannabe with delusions of hiking the Appalachian Trail some day.  The southern terminus of the trail in Georgia is on Springer Mountain.  The northern terminus in Maine at Baxter Peak is on Mount Katahdin.  It seemed appropriate and only logical to me to name these two deer thusly.

   

 

 

 Missy stands by an empty trough

 Corn Trough

 Uncle Buck & Springer

 Uncle Buck, Springer & Katahdin walking towards the trough

 Uncle Buck (look closely)

 Uncle Buck finally gets to eat

 Uncle Buck stands guard while Springer & Katahdin eat all the corn

 Uncle Buck poses for me

 Mom takes a nap in the shade of the pines

 View from my deck.  Mom by herself

 Springer (plaque)

 Katahdin

Nipmuck Trail

“Then sings my soul…….”

8:15 Sunday morning found me at Wolf Rock in Mansfield.  I had hiked to this spot 2 weeks ago and now I approached it from the other direction on a different section of trail.  I am really enjoying walking on this Nipmuck Trail which is part of the Blue Blaze Trail System in Connecticut.  Since this is not a loop trail and I have no car spotters, I park my car and walk to a pre-determined location and then walk back the way I came.  This suits me fine because on the walk in, when I see all this great stuff and I want to linger a bit, I know I’ll see it on the way back and I’m glad for the second chance to see a certain rock or stream or tree that has caught my eye.

These trails are exactly the “roots and rocks” type of trail that I prefer with slight elevation gains and losses although some are quite steep here and there.  The section that I picked out is only 1.6 miles to my destination and then back for a total of 3.2 miles, which is a bit shorter than the last section which totaled 4 miles.  For my next hike I’ll drive to this same parking area on Clover Mill Rd in Mansfield and I’ll pick up the trail, walking northeasterly rather than southwest.  The access to the various trail sections seem to be spaced out just right so that one can pick up the trail easily enough from almost anywhere.  My goal is to ultimately hike the entire Nipmuck Trail, which, I actually will be hiking twice since I’m covering the same ground area twice each time I hike!  After I complete the Nipmuck I’ll most likely tackle the Shenipsic or the Natchaug Trail.  I have an awesome trail guide book put out by the Connecticut Forest & Park Association for the Blue Blaze trail system in eastern Connecticut.  It’s called the Connecticut Walk Book-East and they also put out one for the “West.”  It actually is a loose leaf 3-ring binder which is great because you can take out the sections that you want and bring them with you.  I always make a copy of the section that I’m doing (I make 2 copies and bring one with me so that the original stays nice and pristine in the book) and highlight it and mark it up in red pen too and then leave it on the kitchen counter for Mike to refer to just in case I don’t return at the specified time.  He says that although he doesn’t look at it, that it is good to have so that all he needs to do is to turn it over to the police if I don’t return in “a day or two or three!!”  Very funny!

 

Up at “The Rock,” I take my pack off and pull out my map to study it.  I really don’t need a map but I like to look at it and I like to pretend that I am on some huge long distance hike, like say; the Appalachian Trail.  (Oh, please don’t get me started.  The AT, 2175 miles, runs from Georgia to Maine and would take me 6 ½ months to hike.  And my trail name will be Whispers.  Oh!!  Some day!)  I rummage through my pack and pull out my breakfast along with a thermos of hot sweet tea and my water bottle.  It is only 30 degrees out and the sun feels good on my back.  As I devour my peanut butter and jelly sandwich I look all around me, turning while standing in place, gawking at the simple beauty of this spot and trying to memorize each rock and tree so that I might recall the images later whenever I please.  I am at a summit of sorts and there is a clear view of the horizon.  Not a 360 degree view but more like 200 degrees.  I can see the woods below where I hiked from 2 weeks ago.  I see fields and farm land.  I am standing on a cliff and the last 2/10’s of a mile were very steep from the direction I hiked to 2 weeks ago.  Today, to get to this same point from the other direction the trail was more gradual.  There is a huge bolder at the top, Wolf Rock, that looks as if it was strategically, if precariously, placed.  But all logic and reason makes us ask why and how!  Actually, this bolder was dragged here by a glacier, deposited in its’ place and left behind when the glacier receded.  The guide book told me that!  Very cool!

Although the view is stunning I am more interested in the immediate surroundings.  The trail worn bare; the ledge, the rocks and the trees.  I realize that this may not sound like much of a view to some people but it really truly speaks to me and, once again, I am so happy to be here in my element. 

Now that I have stopped walking I know that I may soon feel a chill and quickly pull on my polar tech fleece jacket. If you go walking in 30 degree or lower temperatures (or even higher) and you stop for any length of time it is important that you bring another layer to put on when you stop.  Put it on before you feel a chill.  Put it on as soon as you stop! 

I have lingered here for about 10 minutes and it is now time to head back.

The walk back always seems shorter and I’m enjoying it all over again.  Now, having built up enough body heat I stop to remove my outer fleece jacket and then stand still to look and to listen.  The woods are very quiet and still.  I strain my ears to hear any possible sound and I am glad that there is none.  There are no cars that I can hear in the distance or sirens or anything.  The only sound I can hear now is the ringing in my ears and the pounding of my heart.  It is a bluebird day, class I, without a single cloud in the sky.  My eyes are suddenly drawn to a slight movement off a ways to my left and I turn just in time to see a very large chipmunk scurry into a rock wall.  I have seen no other living creatures all morning.  The woods are mine!       

As I continue on I would stop a few more times just to stand still and listen.  Finally, I’m approaching a ridge.  The down slope of this ridge was one of my favorite spots this morning and I am happy to be here although now my hike is almost over as I am about 5 minutes from the trail head.  The trail here is made up of rocks.  Some are like stepping stones that you might see in a stream while most of them are as big as the seat of a table chair and flat-ish on top which makes walking on them easier.  These rocks are worn clean but just on either side of the trail the rocks are covered with a deep green lush moss.  The blue blazes on the trees are faint at best to non existent but it is not difficult to see where to walk.  The trail rocks have a  silvery shimmer and are lined on either side with the moss covered rocks looking much like a green carpet.  I remember thinking on the walk in that the blazes weren’t marked all that well but that all I needed to do was to look at the trail and the way would be obvious.  Three quarters of the way down now I stopped yet again and turned to look at the trail behind me.  On the walk in the sun hadn’t yet cleared the ridge but now, nearly 2 hours later, the sun was high and filtering through the bare trees setting the moss covered rocks all a glow, shimmering and sparkling like emeralds. 

“Then sings my soul.”  This lovely church hymn pops into my head at this sight and I’ve been singing it all week now.  


I've posted the lyrics to How Great Thou Art below for your reading and singing pleasure.  Now if only I could sing.  If I were ever granted 3 wishes my 3^rd wish would be that I could sing from the depths of my soul.

How Great Thou Art

Oh Lord my God
When I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout
The universe displayed

Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great thou art
How great thou art

The last 2/10’s of a mile back to the trail head consisted of walking over a lovely foot bridge to cross a stream and walking past a few different stonewalls.  There are stonewalls here in the middle of the woods.  Nothing speaks to me more!  It’s hard to imagine that these woods were once all fields and farm land!

I have posted some pics and video below although they really don't do it justice.  You really would have to have to been there.  So, get outside when you can and take it all in!  I highly recommend it!  I hope you enjoyed my post and my pics!