What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it. Antoine de Saint-Exupery in Wind, Sand, and Stars The memories I described in my last post apparently resonated with readers, for I received many gratifying comments, including this one from myContinue reading “More about Memories”
Tag Archives: Aging Hikers
Duckabush Memories
Whenever I hike a trail that is familiar to me after many years of returning, I am of course flooded with memories of past trips. Recently I revisited the Duckabush River Trail, which I first hiked in 1971, the year before I graduated from college. My friend Patty and I had planned to hike aContinue reading “Duckabush Memories”
Finding Strong
A lot of what we experience as strength comes from knowing what to do with weakness. Barbara Ehrenreich in Nickeled and Dimed Recently I purchased a home on the Olympic Peninsula, a place that is familiar to me and has felt very much like coming home. I wanted to be closer to my family, toContinue reading “Finding Strong”
In Praise of Pink
The photo of the beautiful rhododendron you see above was taken on one of my last backpacking trips two years ago. I love hiking the river valleys of the Olympics in June when the woodland flowers are in bloom. They bring light that filters through the forest canopy after a long gray winter in westernContinue reading “In Praise of Pink”
Swinging in the Lane
And like Billy Bray I go my way, in and out of Shadow Creek, dancing, in a daze, to the twin silver trumpets of praise. Annie Dillard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek In my early twenties when I first started backpacking alone I got into the habit of tucking my thumbs underneath the shoulder strapsContinue reading “Swinging in the Lane”
Rising Above
Recently I departed on a flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Flying out of Seattle, I always expect low clouds, a brief experience of turbulence as we pass through them, and then. . .suddenly. . .blue sky and mountain peaks rising above the clouds. It never fails to amaze me, this experience of rising above, andContinue reading “Rising Above”
Thursday We Hike
When I moved to my rural home in northeastern Washington several years ago I learned that there was a women’s hiking group that met on Thursdays and explored the many trails nearby, often getting together after the hike to share a beer at a local pub. The group intrigued me, but it took me aContinue reading “Thursday We Hike”
Joy in the Morning
The painting was an impulse purchase at a local winery recently. This one called to me immediately, and it was not until I brought it home that I realized why. I hung it on the wall opposite where I sit in the morning, sipping my tea and writing in my journal. It is my mostContinue reading “Joy in the Morning”
I Saw That!
Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is burning with it. Claude Monet When I find myself feeling sad about my decision to give up backpacking in order to save my aching back from further injury, IContinue reading “I Saw That!”
The View from My Chair
Will you seek afar off? You surely come back at last, In things best known to you finding the best or as good as the best, In folks nearest to you finding the sweetest, strongest, lovingest Happiness knowledge not in an other place but this place, not for another hour but this hour. Walt WhitmanContinue reading “The View from My Chair”
The Solitude Trail 