July Walks: Barefoot

July 22,2024

While the political landscape shifts and turns, I’m happy to have my commitment to walking in Nature to shape my day. Walking on my familiar path, greeted with sounds, smells, colors, and tastes, felt reassuring and literally grounding. In fact, I walked, sat on a few logs, and talked on the phone with my sister for all of four hours in my familiar woods. What luxury and assurance it was! I even walked barefoot off and on! The trail was wet from last night’s rain. The dark brown mud felt cool and squishy, adding a mindful quality to my walk through the forest and along the river. read more

July Walks: Refreshing

July 15,2024

I always wondered what my 70th birthday would be like. Now I know! It was a pleasant day of walking in a beloved forest, receiving birthday messages all day long, taking my Mom outside, eating only wholesome food, and playing a game of Satori with a dear friend. Two days later, messages are still coming in and I’ve made a list of all the people who sent me one – 103 so far. And that’s actual word messages, not just FB likes!

Today, I walked at sunrise in my local park, basking in the fresh morning. A number of branches and trees as well as many twigs and leaves, were strewn on the ground from yesterday’s quick thunderstorm. read more

July Walks: Unfamiliar Trails

July 11,2024

This has been another two-walk day. What was different was that both walks were on unfamiliar trails where I had not yet walked. In the morning, I met my new friend Antoinette at Rentschler Forest Preserve near Hamilton, OH. That’s close to her and on my way to an appointment with a chiropractor I like.
I have been walking solo so much during the past year that I had forgotten the joy and ease of walking with a friend, sharing conversation, exploring our life stories and challenges too, stopping at scenic spots to listen and watch in silence.  We agreed that we must meet again! read more

July Walks: Inner Voice

July 8,2024

I took two walks today, morning and early evening. I felt deep gratitude for listening to my inner walking voice instead of my cynical voice that would have gone straight home after visiting my Mom, giving in to the discouraged bewilderment of the assisted living environment.

“Go walk,” said my inner walker, who knew that 45 minutes of walking on an undulating trail through woods would breathe out my frustration and remind my brain of balance and beauty. I’m enjoying pretending I’m on the Appalachian Trail by carrying my pack and sitting at a picnic table under the expansive sky rejoicing in my walk. read more

July Walks: Pretend Appalachian Trail Idea

July 7, 2024

Today, I felt the urge to walk first thing! I walked an hour in my neighborhood park in the freshness of sunrise. I took a 30-minute breakfast break at home, then drove over to Taylorsville Metropark. I walked the same circuit as I did yesterday in the opposite direction, taking me first down the hill to the bank of the Great Miami River. The melodic rippling of the shallow water was mesmerizing, and I listened to the call to stay for a spell, emphasis on “spell”. I recorded words in my favorite Cinquaine form. read more

July Walks: I Think I’ll Just Stay Out

July 4, 2024

Hi, it’s July. 4th. I am contemplating the walk event of the day. So, I’m down by the great Miami River. wondering what happens if I just stay out, even if it’s raining? No umbrella. I’m carrying my backpack. Is it always necessary to shield myself from rain? It’s very warm out.

I’m less than 30 minutes from my vehicle. I have water . I  have food. I even have my backpacking equipment, including my shelter.

I think I’ll just stay out.

And….. I did stay out for about thirty minutes as light rain fell, then stopped. I completed the mile back to my vehicle and stepped into the stone shelterhouse to eat my lunch, being graciously welcomed by a couple enjoying their lunch. As I ate, the sky blackened and the wind picked up, tossing the leaves high in the forest canopy. Rain pelted down and I moved back from the open side of the shelter to the next table to stay dry. read more

July Walks 2024: Resistance

July 2, 2024

I did take a walk this morning – two short ones, actually. I would have skipped the first one except that I declared to my community that I would walk every day this month! So glad I did, too, because it really is true for me that walking in Nature, even with no mileage goal, lifts my spirits, wakes me up, and opens my heart to lighter views of the future. (I admit that yesterday’s Supreme Court decision feels heavy, even when I am open to things “unfolding according to a divine plan.”) read more

How to Start Your Appalachian Trail Walk

I’ve walked the Appalachian Trail twice, plus another 2,000 miles working as an Appalachian Trail Conservancy ridgerunner for seven seasons.. How did I start all this? By locating the nearest trailhead to my home and setting foot on the trail. That one hour greeting let me hear my call to the trail “If I just keep walking, I can get all the way to Maine!”

Next step: a half day walk with my husband, exchanging the car key in the middle as we walked in opposite directions. Over the next four years, we built up to a full month on the trail, two trips per year, from over night to three nights, a week, two weeks. There are landmark steps, I think: read more

Oregon Coast Trail: Journal Anthology

September 29, 2019

“Done is better than perfect”

Read my Oregon Coast Trail anthology:
Oregon Coast Trail Beach Walking Discovery

Since John and I completed the Oregon Coast Trail and drove south through  California to Borrego Springs and our winter home at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, I’ve been compiling the blogposts that I wrote during our journey. I’ve edited the glaring errors caused by “autocorrect” and attempted to arrange the content and pictures in a book draft form.

It’s not perfect and I wanted to send it to you in case you’d like to read it as an anthology of my journal of the walk.   I’m willing to let this go for now because today I start my sixth season as Park Interpretive Specialist at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park!  There will be plenty of projects to work on there! read more