Eleven days in heaven. A happy place. Mountains, canyons, cliffs, yellow aspens, flowers, views for miles. Many of you know that bicycling in the warmer months is my usual happiness, but a visit to Colorado in autumn is breathtaking. Being out in nature is my jam, whether on bike or hiking on foot. Nearer to God, nearer to the planet’s creation, nearer to the sights and smells that create a feeling of calm and peace. Unless, of course, I amRead more
Posts tagged: #Hiking
#SoCS: Trails are the Easy Part
For this week’s Stream of Consciousness, Linda G. Hill has made it easy for me to post: “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “trail/trial.” Use one, use both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun!” First and foremost, I will not be responding to trial. There’s a celebrity trial going on right now (haven’t watched a second of it) that is much in the media and seemingly never-ending. I think thisRead more
#SoCS: In The Something
In the, in the, in the… I’m not coming up with much for the Stream of Consciousness prompt. In the heat of the night… In the final analysis… In the dead of winter… In the something… Okay, so I suppose I could write about the dead of winter since as of this moment, the temperature is 15F (-9.4C) and the expected high on Monday will be 1F (-17.2C). Yes, it’s cold here in Wisconsin and my plans are to spendRead more
My Brother Tried to End Me, Part 2
Raspberry Mountain. The glorious, the not so glorious, and the ugly. One week after the adventures on Pancake Rocks Trail, my brother tried to end me. Again. Not intentionally, of course, but what started out as a beautiful day with a beautiful view almost ended in disaster. “Come with me,” he said. “You can hike this,” he said. “Great views at the top,” he said. Brother was correct that I could hike up Raspberry Mountain and the 360 views wereRead more
My Brother Tried to End Me, Part 1
Pancake Rocks Mountain Trail. I thought I was going to be carried off this trail on a stretcher and it’s my brother’s fault. This was the first of two times he tried to end me on a hike in Colorado. When I arrived late morning on October 22nd, my brother and girlfriend took me to a microbrewery for lunch and a beer. Then we went for what I now consider a “short hike” to Garden of the Gods. Beautiful place,Read more
#SoCS: Traveling With Camera
“The best traveler is one without a camera.” ― Kamand Kojouri Yes and no. No, in that I would not have brought home vacation photos like the one above and the over 300 captures now residing on my laptop. These are memories from a trip in which I saw amazing sights, spent time with family, and taste tested a few beers. Yes, in that many times it’s difficult to capture the awe I felt while visiting Colorado. Many of the mountainRead more
Black and White Bench
This week’s entry for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge (CBWC) is any kind of seating. The following photos are from a 2014 camping trip with girlfriends and hike on the Ice Age Trail in northern Wisconsin. If you’d like to see the color version of the first photo and an accompanying poem, click HERE. From the Ice Age Trail Alliance: “More than 12,000 years ago, an immense flow of glacial ice sculpted a landscape of remarkable beauty across Wisconsin.Read more
Different Directions
“Life’s too much fun to have it go in just one direction.” ~Carly Rae Jepsen~ So it was during an eleven-day vacation that lasted through July 4th. Those days were spent lounging, biking, traveling, hiking, eating, shopping, imbibing and spending time with friends at a campground wedding. Many directions. For the sake of time and in the spirit of One-Liner Wednesday (which already makes this post too long), I will spare a good share of the details for possible futureRead more
February Weird
On February 22, 2017, when the normal average temperature in Northeast Wisconsin is about 29 degrees Farenheit (-1.67 C), the thermometer was reading about 62. Weird. During lunch time, I went for a walk on the trail and then sat on this bench for about 10 minutes, soaking up the sun and warmth, before heading back to the office. This was glorious, but also the last day of what was a weirdly wonderful stretch of spring-like weather. Thursday was cooler,Read more
Reader’s Digest Vacation
I’m fixing to leave again. After two days of “catching up” after the Washington DC trip, the bags are packed for a long weekend in Door County and fall festival. It will be the last days of vacation, the ones that I need to savor. They will go fast. Before I leave, though, I wanted to give you the Reader’s Digest version of the past week…where I’ve been, what I’ve done, the miles I’ve walked…through words and photographs that I’mRead more
Never Forget the Summer
In this week’s photo challenge, show us what “gone, but not forgotten” means to you. Never forget the summer. It’s memory is dear – biking, hiking, communing with nature. Picnics in the park, flowers on the balcony. The smell of grass and the glow of campfires, light up the soul and the landscape. The season warms the heart and makes us angrily sweat, then leaves in the blink of an eye. Never forget the summer, ever. lest you LOVE winter.Read more
The End
No, it’s not the end of MJM or cat pictures or mom stories. It’s the end of vacation. Boo. I have not set foot in my office since August 7th. I will be returning tomorrow, August 18th. Boo. During this time away, I spent time with family, baked bread, stole away for bike rides, hit the pool at the gym, visited with a few friends, went to the Michigan State Fair and tried to relax. On Monday, relaxation is over. Boo.Read more
Mary J Melange 