Category: Journey to YOUR HeartLand

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Celebration

June 17, 2019

Birthdays always help me review the blessings of being a mom. That’s a perfect time for reflection on what my vision for my son was. While pregnant, I created daily meditations with a music track called “Magical Journey” or some similar title. I can instantly recall the melody if not the correct name. I filled my belly with light and imagined my baby as a peacemaker. I knew my child would be my guide in becoming a generous, compassionate, and courageous person. I was certainly right about that! Here’s a quick list of the ways that showed up: read more

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Desert to Forest

June 15, 2019

Leaving Anza-Borrego Desert State Park at sunrise
Trees frame the Mountain view, Guadalupe Mountains, Texas
Border of trees at the Louisiana welcome center

1,650 miles east of our starting point, our third sunrise greets us with trees! What a contrast to the pink and purple sunrise innour departure from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California. What a difference in vegetation rain makes! Our Outer Journey has been a marathon of driving on interstate, mostly I-20. We veered off in Dallas, TX for a warm-hearted gathering with one of my nieces just north of Dallas. Seeing her new baby for my first time was worth the two-hour sidetrip! An extra bonus was that her sister with her two “middle-aged” kids and their mom, whom I haven’t seen in 14 years, were also meeting her at a restaurant! I made up a new name for her husband, but quickly realized my mistake and quipped, “Anyone else want a new name? I’m good at making them up!” read more

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Deepening Practices

June 9,

In everything I do, I strive for deepening my sensory and spiritual experience. I’m pretty sure you do too!

I’ve picked up on some techniques from John Muir Laws (his real name!) through his Laws Guide to Nature Journaling. Two years ago, I launched a program at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center to provide a platform to practice what I’m learning.

Notice and Wonder is now a frequent listing in the Park’s Interpretive Schedule. In it, I offer five simple techniques to read more

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Big Sur and Dreams

June 7, 2019

One refreshing and challenging aspect of my partnership with Hiker John is that he takes  me to new places! This week’s place was an area of California that’s completely different from the desert! Big Sur. Meaning the big south, it’s the 90-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast between San Simeon and Carmel, South of San Francisco and 350 miles north of Los Angeles.  It’s uniquely rocky and steep, craggy oak covered mountains plummeting down to crashing breakers, broken by short stretches of sandy beaches. read more

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Regina’s 2019 Journey Begins!

June 2, 2019

A bold new summer journey is about to begin! Starting with a four-day road and camping trip from our winter home and jobs in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to San Simeon and Big Sur State Parks, we’ll travel East.

I have two ca-ute grandsons to catch up with, three sons, two daughters-in-law and a mom to visit in Georgia, South Carolina, and Ohio. We’ll also walk some distance on a trail, perhaps the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.

As we travel this year I’ll keep you posted on our Outer Journey. And you know me! I’ll be watching for developments in our Inner Journey too and how the tools of Radical Forgiveness and Forgivenesswalks help me turn troubles into blessings! read more

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NET: Day 12 Air BnB

August 28, 2018

We got an early start just after dawn and without cooking breakfast because it was so buggy at our tentsite!

We soon came to a view of our future, an overlook of the Farmington River. From our precipice, we looked down on the small town of Tarriffville. We speculated about the origins of the name, spying on a landing on the opposite side of the river. “This would be a perfect vantage point for invaders to signal each other about boats approaching the town!” And, “This must have been the place where tarriffs originated!” We add “Tarriffville” to our growing list of places inviting further research and start our descent to the river. read more

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NET: Day 16 Diverse

September 1, 2018

Today’s 15 miles took us through a diverse tour of habitats and popular hiking areas, continuing our mostly eastward “noodling” through the green spaces near Meriden.

We got off from Johnson’s Inn by 8 a.m. and walked through the neighborhood starting on Spruce Brook Road, turning where the blue blazes seemed to guide us into someone’s backyard where men were hovering over a vehicle, talking loudly. We stayed our course, though, and followed the path behind houses, onto another street, then back onto an overgrown road beyond a guardrail. “We’ll go where the blazes lead! I guess this is it!” We remarked. read more

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NET:Day 11 Connecticut Begins

August 27, 2018

Soon after we got started, we reached the bog bridging the farmer at Calabrese Farm Store had told us about. It was, indeed, a significant project, and a welcome dry crossing of the bog!

Just a short way south, we came to a small road with residences. The trail followed a wide green swath of mowed grass lined with a vegetation fence to our right. It looked to me like the landowner had created a clear easement for the trail, complete with a signed parking area at the road junction. The kiosk there displayed a map with Trail Section #1 to our north. That would mean that Connecticut was just across this road! Well, almost! read more

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NET: Day 7 Rugged

August 23, 2018

We got an early start from our hidden tentsite, soon reaching a sign that said “Queen Street”. I saw only trail, so didn’t know what Queen Street meant. We were getting near Amherst. Maybe Queen Street left town and kept going into the forest. A good question there!

The forest seemed typically New England, with lots of mushrooms, birch trees, ferns and northern flowers. I took a few “typical forest” shots.

Here’s a link to an album of mushroom photos taken today. There are so many mushrooms! read more

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NET Day 4

August 20, 2018

The nearby chuch bell chimed the hour all through the night. I heard it each hour except 2, so I must have slept soundly at least a couple of hours. At 6 bells we started to get up. The morning woods was quiet, peaceful, and tingling with life! Even though we weren’t supposed to be there, I felt that we were honoring the forest by being there reverently, protectively.

We descended gently down from Little Grace Mountain past Bass Swamp and Bass Road. A quaint, handpainted sign laid out our day. We were aiming for Farley and beyond, 15 miles south. read more