I am not below ground. I am far up above in the sky, on a peak of rock. On the peak of me. Getting here was not guaranteed. Climbing over rocks and logs, feet moving over loose stone, knotty roots, and slick pine needles. A push from behind is needed to surmount a sizeable boulder. …
Adirondacks
Adirondack Mountains
Patience and Publication
A year ago this month, my article about Betty Murphy sewing quilts for a unique place on Raquette Lake was published in the Suburban News. The unique place, St. William’s on Long Point, is both an historic site and a soul-replenishing respite nearly in the center of Adirondack Park. The editor encouraged me to pitch …
Adventures in Babysitting: Boys in the Woods
My nephews love the woods. Past hiking trips last summer and fall were highly successful outings – and, being outdoors kills time that I would otherwise spend tuning out SpongeBob or getting trounced at the Wii game of the day. Also, I hope the boys are developing their appreciation for nature, which will serve them …
Dive Bar
If I had the time, resources, and inclination, I’d open a tiny bar and name it Dive Bar. It would be poorly lit, serve mostly bottled beer and well drinks, and the restrooms – clean and serviceable – would be graffiti temples filled with genius insults, beat poetry and psychedelic cartooning. To have visited a …
Summer Classics: Outdoor Adventure
Do you know how easy it is to kayak? I didn’t either until I tried it about 5 years ago. Upper body strength is not typically part of my self-description. However, reclined in the cock-pit or on top of an open kayak with a long two-bladed paddle, I found, much to my surprise, that I …
An Adirondack State of Mind
Has it really been almost two years since we were last inside the Blue Line? Last year, our 10th anniversary Caribbean cruise completely wiped out the vacation budget, and then my essay on hiking the Adirondacks was published in The Conservationist last fall; a vicarious visit at best. We just returned from the Adirondacks last …
Opening
Five years ago this Christmas, I gave The Husband a digital SLR camera. His film rig, which is a fairly professional set-up, had been gathering dust for a few years at that point. As the prolonged death of film photography hastened, so did his interest in taking pictures. He studied photography in college and already …
We interrupt this program for breaking news
Validation is powerful. Late last year, in the infancy of SuddenWriteTurn and during my growing realization that writing is my calling, The Husband came across an announcement on a local news website. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was holding an essay contest: Share your positive and inspirational stories of your experiences in …