A Little Blog Post and Some Pictures

 I've started new posts twice in the past week, but they remain unpublished. (I went to a local corn maze with a friend last Saturday, as well as another outing with my sister on Sunday... It was a beautiful weekend.) Maybe it's because I've been getting up so early for work the past week, but mostly my concentration has been off. It's so much easier to post photographs and scroll through Facebook...

If I am honest, total transparency here has become more difficult. It's become easier in person, but harder on a social media platform, especially because I don't know who my audience includes. I remain keenly aware of my own ability to inadvertently wound those I love, as well as mislead those who are unaware of our true story. I'm learning a little more about myself each day, like how I think and why I respond in certain ways, but I don't always have words to explain those things.

I'm also learning how to spend time alone and although it's not always easy, it's not miserable either. I am beginning to enjoy my moments of solitude as much as I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. This afternoon I went for a walk in the woods at a local park. (I learned from a fellow hiker that it might not be the safest place to walk during bow hunting season, but previous to that tidbit of information I'd felt quite safe and peaceful.) The lake and the woods. Much more peaceful than Barnes and Noble or Hobby Lobby, although they will likely have to do in the winter.

A couple weeks ago I neglected to attend an outdoor gathering. It was especially hard to tell my son and daughter in law that I wouldn't be there. We all want so much to pretend everything is okay when it isn't, and my mind wants to rationalize the irrational as well. This is my most difficult battle and I am coming to understand the battle is universal. I'm not the only one struggling to come to terms with situations I can't understand. It's part of the reason I was asked to step out of the Step Study a year and a half ago. At least that part is beginning to make a little bit of sense in my mind.

In other news, I locked myself out of my car again on Saturday afternoon. My car keys were once again smiling at me from their position on the driver's seat while I was on the other side of the window. Ironically, I had just paid my AAA membership online the night previous. I've learning not to let this silly game get me too ruffled. It feels so much better to laugh at it instead.

A Day of Memories and Memory Making

I took my sisters on an adventure this weekend. We returned to a place of wonder and childhood memories...

Rachel was a baby the first time we camped at Robert H. Treman State Park just outside of Ithaca, NY. We would return when she was a year old, and again a year or so later. Dad always camped in the upper campground at the top of the gorge. It was less crowded and he liked that. His favorite spot wasn't always available, but if it was we camped in the corner site just up the hill from the old mill where the bathrooms were located. Today there is no camping allowed in the top of the park. It is just a picnic ground and I think most of it goes unused and inaccessible to the public. We didn't go to camp though, we went to hike the gorge.

It was a beautiful day full of memories. So many first experiences I remember from this place. Wonderful memories of my mother showing me creatures in the creek; minnows, water striders, and dragonflies. Perhaps I am drawn here to heal...

She taught me how to skip rocks in the creek, and shared a love wading up or down the stream on the flat sheets of slate that line the creek bed.

I learned that Daddy-Long-Legs don't bite and it is okay if they crawl over my leg or along my arm.

We were told never to go into the Gorge Trail alone, but were allowed ample free time to play together in the creek at the top. I didn't take much thought for the rock retaining wall when I was six, but it is what makes this spot on the creek recognizable all these years later. Seeing those cut stones brings back a sense of comfort. This is where I sat on a rock while Dad helped me tie my shoes fifty years ago.


On Saturday we followed the signs that said "due to Covid-19" we should hike down the Gorge Trail, and back up the Rim Trail, a 4 1/2 mile hike. In all our camping trips there as a child, I'd never hiked the Rim Trail, so that was a new experience in a well loved and familiar park.

It was a beautiful day and I am forever grateful to my sisters for going along and making me smile. (Yes, my legs are feeling the burn. I don't know how many steps are in the "Great Staircase" but my phone tells me I climbed 65 floors on Saturday. LOL!)

Gallivanting

Fall is fleeting in upstate NY. Most have the trees have turned to gold, red, or bronze, shed their leaves, and now stand at least partially naked in the cold autumn winds. We decided to grab the opportunity and together headed out this morning into a rainy drizzle. We stopped for breakfast in Geneva and then headed south toward Watkins Glen.

Had the weather not been bone chilling, we might have paid the parking fee and ventured into the glen. Instead we drove a few miles further to the sleepy little town of Montour Falls and took a peak at their waterfalls. We found them sleepy too. Not much water coming over the rocks today, but pretty just the same.

We had all afternoon to drive, so we headed west, away from Seneca Lake and the town of Watkins Glen, toward Keuka Lake and one of our favorite wineries.

There is something about autumn that can make even a cold, gray day feel warm and cozy. Both the colors and the landscape conjure up thoughts of warm sweaters, fireplaces, and steaming hot cups of coffee.

I found myself soaking in the shapes of trees and buildings, the earthy colors of autumn, and the grey blue skies and clouds, and wondered at the artists of old who didn't carry a camera in their packs. If they captured the landscape at all, it was either in their minds or a sketch on paper. But then again, I don't suppose they were in as much of a hurry as most of us are today.

Unless I sneak away early this week, which isn't likely, my autumn travels are  over for this year. *sigh* Maybe next year I will have a little more freedom while the leaves are in full color and the sun is still warm. For now I have a few treasures in photos from this year and maybe, just maybe, if the water authority comes to Mom's house early tomorrow, I might find a moment or two to wander one of my favorite farm markets.

Bits of My Weekend

Saturday morning found me at the cemetery. In my junior high school days, my best friend was Ruth. We were inseparable to the point that when new neighbors moved in up the street, they thought we were sisters. If she wasn't at my house, I was at hers. My parents were her mom and dad, and hers were mine. This weekend she said goodbye to her daddy, and though I haven't seen her in years, I still found myself there, standing with strangers to bid farewell to the father of my childhood friend, to hug her and her mom, and tell them I love them.

Toward evening Ben and Hannah started a bonfire out in the back year. It was a huge fire with lots of friends. I made chili, bought hotdogs, sodas, and too many marshmallows, and sneaked out to take a picture in the midst of the festivities. They had parked pickup trucks around the fire and it looked like a "tailgate party". Looked like fun too, but I stayed inside and watched a movie with my honey.

Today Hannah left us for New York City and James and I took an afternoon ride down to Naples, NY and walked the trail and creek at Grimes Glen.

We were both wearing summer footwear and decided to brave the cold creek waters in order to see both waterfalls. The water was cold enough to make my feet ache, but it was so worth the discomfort. I only slipped twice and both me and my camera survived the experience.






What a beautiful hike it was even if I did get a wet butt in the process. I was saved from total disaster by the first waterfall which I fell against. It got me wet on one side, but kept me from falling in altogether. My Darling was kind enough to document the adventure.

A Pretty Cool Waterfall

It did not feel like a holiday weekend. I didn't go to any Memorial Day parades, and we didn't have or go to any picnics. Instead we stayed home Monday, did normal everyday things, and planted some more of our garden. In the evening I cooked Italian sausage on the grill. It felt like something was missing. I think it was my kids.

Sunday afternoon after church James and I went out for a ride. Since north is not an option (due to one very large lake), we drove south, toward some different lakes, and ended up down by the Bed and Breakfast we stayed in last June on our getaway.

Adjacent to the B&B is a creek that runs down through a glen to Keuka Lake. Somewhere up there is a waterfall. We didn't hike back far enough to see it last year and therefore decided to make a second attempt. Since the creek wasn't flowing very fast, we were able to walk the creekbed without much difficulty. Much of the rock surrounding the creek is shale. Sometimes big sheets of it make up the bed of the creek, the edges often rounded smooth by raging water, which on our visit was more of a trickle.

It was a perfect day for hiking, not too hot and not too cold. In places the rocks were covered with a slippery, mossy seaweed. I nearly went on my butt more than once, but thankfully got nothing more than a wet foot. Actually, I got two wet feet and an "almost" wet pair of pants. The feet were wet with creek water, but the pants? Well, let's just say I drank a little too much coffee on the ride down. I made it up the creek alright, but on the way back my steps were a bit more... bouncy. (I should have named this post "Up the Creek Without a Piddle"...) I was not brave enough to hide behind a rock or tree and therefore toughed it out on the way down. I was more than "relieved" to find a public restroom at a local winery when we drove up into the hills.

James was ahead of me for most of the trek. It's not because I couldn't keep up, but more because I was carrying my camera and had to document our hike... or at least his. That's him up ahead hoping to see the waterfall around the next corner. We were told last year by the B&B owner's son that we'd stopped our walk just shy of the falls, so this year we pressed on until the end.

Finally, around another bend in the creek, we found it. The water was just a trickle coming down the rocks. We were able to climb halfway up, about to the flat spot, but the rocks being slippery and us being no longer so nimble, we decided to head back down rather than risk life and limb, as well as bladder control. I never could have held it together had I slid and bounced down to the base. Of course, then no one would have been the wiser since I would have been totally drenched, not to mention bruised from head to toe.

Check this picture of the waterfall when the creek is actually flowing. Wouldn't you know it! There's a second waterfall up above the first one. Look at this!