Let the heart-stopping begin!
Spider season is upon us… and they’re determined to stop my heart at least once this spring/summer. Nothing like… Read More ➤
Tag: nature
Vermont Being Vermont
So this winter seems a bit closer to how I always imagined Vermont. Snow started before Thanksgiving and has been on the ground ever since. It’s always been a little here, a little there, without any big snowstorms to speak of, though we came close this past week.
Thursday night through Friday we finally got a pretty big one, totaling about 14 to 15 inches here in Waterbury. Sure, we occasionally got bigger snowstorms in Delaware—I recall one storm that dropped 23 inches in two days. But here in Vermont, the snow lingers and becomes… Read More ➤
Magical Mystery Tour
Anyone who knows me knows that, despite my Southern upbringing, I’m not a religious person. I do have spiritual moments, though, typically about the beauty, magic, and mystery that life sometimes holds. Last month, I had the good fortune of enjoying a good dose of all.
We were down in Worcester, Massachusetts, to attend an intimate wedding of my good friends Carla and Deb. The wedding itself was rife with beauty and wonder, perhaps amplified in the absence of any ostentation or needless formality. The ceremony was everything a wedding should be: two people in love formalizing their commitment to each other in front of a few good friends. The minister was… Read More ➤
That’s “Mr. Huffnpuff” to you!
Despite being surrounded by nature that often seems boundless, I haven’t been able to hike much since moving to Vermont. For most of the summer it rained every weekend, and weekday afternoon hikes aren’t so easy, since most trails here are pretty hardcore. As I’ve learned, so are Vermonters.
Every time I’ve gone for a hike, I’ve been shamed by at least one person nearly twice my age. At Hunger Mountain, a few women in their 70s darted past us up the steep trail. They climbed the mountain so quickly that they later passed us going down…while we were still trudging up! At least one of them was close to 80, bless her soul. That hike is about two miles each way, with a climb of over 2,000 feet. Vermonters are… Read More ➤
Hope Springs…
It’s getting a bit cliché, but spring means it’s time for renewal and growth.
This spring, that’s what I’ve been up to. I’m renewing myself, my dreams, and my goals—or trying to, at least. I’ve already been working on myself in a few ways, including health, attitude, and self-confidence. (I’ve been known to doubt myself on occasion.) I’m even renewing and refocusing my web presence.
Now I have to put the wheels in motion for more change… Read More ➤
Seasons Change…People Change.
Autumn is all but gone. The colors seemed to come out of nowhere, bursting in beautiful intensity until all the world seemed to have a new coat of paint. It was magical—short, but magical. I really wasn’t expecting much this year, considering the near-drought conditions of summer that caused many trees to drop leaves a month early. But somehow, nature held back just enough for the big finale.
Isn’t that how life should be though? Full of… Read More ➤
Dreaming
Even at my age, I find that I’m often dreaming—not those fantasies about weird or illogical things, but dreaming, nonetheless. My kind of dreaming is just getting wrapped up in the small things around me–the things most people just ignore, deliberately or by default.
When I see a butterfly, I don’t just say “oooh, pretty,” before snapping a photo. I sort of go into… Read More ➤
Getting Reacquainted
Back when I first moved to Delaware, I discovered White Clay Creek Preserve (now State Park). It was my way to escape campus and Newark, and it was where I cleared my mind and contemplated the complex world. My mountain bike and Pentax K1000 were my best friends.
Fast forward almost 20 years… Read More ➤
Sometimes Mother Nature Isn’t a Raging Bitch.
Sometimes most pleasure is held in the simple, natural things. Walking to the bus stop every day, I pass trees that are on fire with color. There are more on campus and around Newark.
Although this seems to be the best foliage in years, I haven’t have time to… Read More ➤
Ah, the simple things!
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