Category Archives: Adventures

The grand adventure – of the scallop!

warning – those of you with an aversion to shellfish and/or biology might want to skip this post!

An ordinary trip to the grocery store led to an amazing encounter – live sea scallops in the seafood department! Perhaps they are common to you but I had never seen them before. I just had to stop and peer into the large, unusual shells to see the small mantles and tiny eyes. Even the fishmonger was excited; they have not had fresh scallops there before. Another fishmonger asked her if she would clean one. She agreed so I move in close, quite sure I too would want to be wearing gloves for this project. She cheerfully explained the process as she worked quickly until only the large and pristine flesh remained waiting to be grilled or pan-seared.

On the drive home, I decided I just had to share this amazing adventure with Hubby. So back to the store where rows of scallops sat waiting in crushed ice and gathered a crowd of onlookers!

I love seemingly ordinary days transformed by the adventure of discovering something new!

Geese can amaze me

I decide to drive through the reservoir on the way home. As I approach the dam, I can see the water spilling down, wave-like. I continue on the winding road and I’m amazed that geese are standing atop the spillway!

I find a place to park, walk back and hear them chattering as geese do. I image them all offering encouragement to each other to stand strong or paddle against the current, but I do have to wonder why, in such a large lake, they are here.

What fun are they experiencing or is this a kind of late afternoon strength training exercise?

There are no answers from them so I move on to my favorite place and into the golden glow.

And I find that the drive and the beauty and the brisk air are strengthening for me today. I hope you have a place to soak in the golden glory of late afternoon sun.

October Memory

So much storm preparedness going on all around as forecasters warnings are relentless.

It seems so much more than a week since we visited the Queen City of the Alleghenies and drove through wonderful mountains and valleys and stayed in The Castle. I want to remember the glory of that autumn time.

We were on an adventure to find past and give past, and we did. As always, we loved the drive and this time the autumn color added to the beauty of the journey.

I couldn’t get enough of looking through the beautiful old glass of the windows of The Castle. In the night, as wailing sirens echoed through the river valley, I gazed through arched windows at stars rarely seen at home. And I gave thanks for those who heed the call to serve in crisis.

And now, looking into the face of this storm, we pray for safety for those who are serving and will be serving all along the Eastern Seaboard.

Summer on the road

I was 17 and spent my summer earning the money for driving lessons and insurance. The family car had a standard transmission and Dad seemed in no mood to teach me to drive it. I was told there were plans for a newer car so I took my lessons – three. The instructor took me to the Dept. of MV for testing. Amazing myself, I passed both tests and went home with a license in hand. Then I waited, and the newer car came and I still waited, now worried that I had forgotten everything.

Labor Day weekend we had plans to go to the Grandparents for a cookout. I had hoped to drive, but I wasn’t offered the wheel.

The last car Dad had to himself!

We were about half way when Dad pulled to the side of the road and told me to get behind the wheel. Heart pounding terror came as the reality of being responsible for my family set in. But, I was 17 and I had a license to drive, so I did. Slowly, then up to speed, things were going well and then the first turn – right. With the power steering, I suppose I could have made a neat and tidy 360 – except for the hedge. It really slowed me down and we came to a stop in the middle of someone’s yard.

Dad got out and talked with the homeowner and asked to call a tow truck. An inspection on the lift showed no damage done to the car. I thought the damage to my driving career was total. I don’t remember anyone saying much during all that time. Dad was usually spare with his words.

When the garage man was paid, I walked to a back door and then Dad spoke, “Get back behind the wheel.” And I did.

It seemed like many years went by before nature repaired that hedge! The gaps reminded me not only of the foolishness of overconfidence but the kindness and restraint of my Dad in actually teaching me a life lesson – there are times when one must “Get back behind the wheel.”

Recently I had a difficult situation which seemed to cause me to crash against an invisible hedge, the jolt was hard and it left me wondering what to do, how to proceed and that’s when I seemed to hear Dad again, “Get back behind the wheel.”

Maybe you feel like you’ve crashed somewhere and you’re looking at some mess you’ve made. Maybe it’s time now to take a deep breath, get back behind the wheel of life and go on again to your destiny. Please do. Or perhaps you know someone in this situation who could use your kindness and encouragement to go on again. Please give it.

A lovely invitation

I’ve driven past many tall hedges in this rural area never giving much thought to what might lie behind them. Our country roads have become busy highways and I think of them merely as privacy screens.

Then one day in late spring, I received and invitation and had the privilege of wandering about in this secret garden. I wanted to share my visit with you.

Summer is now here and this is glorious memory!

Poem thoughts

“My gentle Reader. I perceive

How patiently you’ve waited.

And now I fear that you expect

Some tale will be related.

O Reader! had you in your mind

Such stories as silent thought can bring,

O gentle Reader! you would find

A tale in everything.”

William Wordsworth

And dear reader, this expresses just what has happened – tales in everything, silent thoughts not written yet, but captured in the camera. Catbirds nesting in rhododendron, gardens after the long awaited rains, excursions, projects and surprises, too…

Keeping busy

Three weeks ago, encouraged by my daughter, I started an on-line photography class http://www.susannahconway.com/e-courses/photo-meditations/

This has so expanded my attention and narrowed my focus. I’m learning composition and design details so I hope some of my behind the scene frustration will end and my offerings here will improve! What I started with hesitation has become great fun; I love when that happens, don’t you?

Now I need to clean up my computer and do some program changes…I’m not so sure that will be great fun, but I will hope to enjoy the results!

Time in the park

We went to the park on the river where the sun shone brightly through drifting clouds and birds sang and the wind blew hard and chilly up from the bay through old rushes and new leaves.

He biked and I walked and looked and tried to see, really see. And gnarly tree roots opened a door as I walked in the woods.

As the memory door swung open, first I heard the faint chatter and laughter of children at play in the long ago of my first elementary school. The sound grew louder and then I saw the trees. Part of the school yard was shaded by enormous trees with great gnarled roots worn smooth by the countless leather soled feet of children enjoying the simple challenge of stretching and balancing from one to another of the sturdy tree feet. And I remember the feel of rough bark and slipping and sliding in the trying… and smiling nuns with winged white bonnets turning jump ropes and teaching hop-scotch with worn-out heels begged from the shoe repairman down the street…

This tree has years to grow and I wonder if children will hug it and play among the roots, I hope so. Trees can hold the keys to such satisfying memories.

A snow story to tell

It’s early and I feel alert and refreshed – just back from a carefree run down the quiet street of Brownstones under magnificent trees full of emerging bloom. I am staying in a magnificent house on this street and one of the house dogs, a magnificent Bouvier, is running with me. Everything seems magnificent in this dream of mine and then I wake in our cottage on the edge of a wood where goats graze on the nearby hills and horses in winter blankets stand across the street. Dreams are funny things and this one has left me feeling quite exhilarated. I’ll take that as a gift!

It is below freezing and the grey dawn makes me impatient now for spring. I feel a little cheated this winter here of mostly dull. No deep snows enthuse my winter project list. I wait for the coffee and contemplate winters past and those stories.

I remember a snow adventure when I was brave and brilliant and all of about 11 or 12. Those were the days when schools did not close early much less think of not opening because a little snow was forecast.

At the end of the school day, I gathered my younger sister and another little girl who traveled with us and we waited outside for the transit bus. Buses came and went but there was never enough room for three; so many downtown businesses had closed early. It was very cold waiting in the swirling snow. One might ask why we didn’t go back into the school to wait. Well one, I soon realized that you couldn’t get to the bus stop quickly enough on the slippery sidewalk when a bus would come and two – somehow being at the mercy of The Nuns seemed far worse than standing and waiting and maybe even freezing to death. The drama of an adolescent mind!

And then the flash of brilliance – I decided we would walk to my Grandparents home. I had no idea how far it was, but it had to be walking distance. My parents had grown up in the neighborhood and had walked to the church next to our school; I had heard all their stories of really deep snows…

I’m sure I was counting on the warmth of the old coal stove in the kitchen and cookies at the end of the hike. I’m also sure the little girls protested but I was certain of my plan and off we trudged through our deepening snow and dark through a neighborhood we only knew from the windows of the bus. I still remember the look of great surprise on the face of my Grandmother as she opened the door to us.

I no longer remember the eventual trip home, but I still remember feeling very proud that I had done the right thing and all was well. We were warm and drying and safe from the storm.

Home

Adventuring

Cold, grey days make me feel like I’m in a hermitage with stacks of books and fabric, coffee, bubbling soup and bread baking cozy wrapped around my days.

But today the icy fingers and fog give way.

The burning off stirs me out for an airing, an adventure to see what the fresh light illuminates. First the grocer and stocking up for more rainy prospects and then the library for more books. One becomes a companion at a simple lunch in a sunny window. I’m amazed how quickly the time passes in its warmth.

At the road, I make the choice of a long drive home. In the wonderful late afternoon light, I smile at the silent camaraderie of the many who have also stopped along the drive to drink in the serenity of the lake. A few minutes to linger and then I continue on enjoying the winter beauty of the familiar drive and I laugh out loud at the four dogs lined up by size to wait for their people. I am a simple adventurer today.