“Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Serene (2)
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Author Archives: Freedom Hiker
Serene
“Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Whatever Happened To The Rules?
“Win or lose, do it fairly.”
-Knute Rockne
Last night my daughters hockey team played a team of thugs from West Hartford, CT. Pretty much from the outset of the game, they played dirty, all with the blessing of their coach. Although her team was losing badly, they kept playing hard, but fair. And even with this commanding lead, the team continued to deliver cheap shot after cheap shot to our young ladies, even breaking the nose of one of our players.
Earlier in the game, my daughter had been checked into the glass. She wasn’t really injured, but certainly could have been. As the game proceeded. she took several more hits, all without penalties on the opposing players. It was clear to me and the other parents in attendance that they game was getting out of hand. In the third period, my daughter took this cross check to the back of the neck and she went face first directly into the ice (see picture below). Finally a major penalty was assessed to the other team!
Now I am under no illusion that hockey is a totally safe sport. But it is most safe when you play by the established rules and you have referees who enforce those rules. The reason I am writing this entry is because our players did not stoop to the level that this team started on. They went into the game with a high degree of integrity and sportsmanship that never wavered. Not even when the score was 6-0 and they were basically getting mugged left and right, our young ladies retained their composure and played hockey.
Were they frustrated? You bet. Were they pissed off? No doubt. Were they wondering why the referees weren’t calling obvious penalties? Of course. With all of that, they kept playing good, clean, hard hockey. These days, that is all I can ask for. They could have just as easily started employing the same cheap tactics that had been used against them the entire game, but they didn’t. Even though they lost the game, saw the other coach ejected and took a beating, they ended up winning the game because they were the ones who walked off of the ice with their integrity intact. Not so much for the other team.
The First Hike Of December!!!!!
“While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best.”
-Tom Allen
The first hike of December!!!! As you probably can imagine, it was pretty cold when I started my hike this morning. Not frigidly cold (as it certainly could have been), but cold enough to where I couldn’t just where shorts and a t-shirt (my favorite hiking attire). At 22 degrees, this was one of the coldest mornings that I have hiked this year. With no wind blowing, although it was chilly, it made the hiking easy.
A frosty way to start the day!
2017 Mileage:
12/2/17-6.4-349.32
The Calm Before The Storm…
I usually get to school around 6:30 am every day. At this time it is pretty much guaranteed that I am the only person walking the second floor where I have been situated now for almost 11 years. Within an hour, this same hallway will be swarming with teen angst. A diverse cross section of humanity waiting for the day to begin, waiting to see what the day will deliver. Sitting next to their lockers, they talk about their day, their classes, their friends and the weekend. As crazy as it sounds, the energy that the kids give off is infectious. That is why working in a high school is the best job you could ask for.
Truly the calm before the storm.
The walk into the building.
The Sunset At Ward Pound Ridge
It was truly an odd feeling to be on the trail today and after almost always being a party to the woods waking up, I was instead for once looking at the coming night. Being pretty deep in the woods and surrounded by many hills, the darkness enveloped me much quicker than the morning light does as the sun rises. As I exited the woods in almost total darkness, I was able to catch the last of the sunset off in the distance.
The sky at Ward Pound Reservation as the sun sets.
More of the same sunset.
Happy Hiking!!!
2017 Mileage:
11/27/17-3.8-342.92
A Sunset & Naked Trees
Two of my favorite things: A beautiful sunset and naked trees!
The Naked Tree
“All our wisdom is stored in the trees.”
―Santosh Kalwar
“Trees there were, old as trees can be, huge and grasping with hearts black as sin. Strange trees that some said walked in the night.”
―Neil Galman
If you have read some of my more recent posts, you know how much I love photographing trees this time of year. The lack of leaves gives them an eerie quality that suggests a sense of power that I don’t see or feel any other time of the year.
This morning when I was at the Appalachian Trail Rail Station (see post from this morning) I saw some pretty cool looking trees. Being totally devoid of leaves, I couldn’t resist taking a couple of photographs.
Is there anyone out there that loves “naked trees”?
The Harlem Line in B & W
“Black and white creates a strange dreamscape that color never can.”
-Jack Antonoff
“Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.”
-Robert Frank
After dropping my daughter at her 8:00 am hockey practice this morning I drove two miles to the Appalachian Trail rail station and took a series of picture that I included in the previous post. The top photograph was taken at the station and the other two at a crossing just off of route 22 about one mile south of the station.
The Harlem Line looking north from the Appalachian Trail Station.
A crossing just off of route 22 in Pawling, NY.
The Appalachian Trail Rail Station
The Appalachian Trail runs just about 2,200 from Georgia to Maine. A little known fact about the trail is that although you may encounter many freight lines along your journey, there is only one commuter rail station that is directly located on the AT. Stopping only on weekends and holidays, the MTA transports hikers and campers to the Appalachian Trail Station throughout the year.
Located just off of Route 22 in Pawling, NY, the station was the idea of George Zoebelein, who did a great deal of hiking in the area and was a veteran of the NY/NJ Trail Conference as well as both the NY/NJ Appalachian Trail Conferences, and also served as a member of the Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. The station, as you can see in the picture below, was built in three months by Metro-North Railroad in 1991 for the cost of pretty nominal cost of $10,000.
The Appalachian Trail Railroad Station.
A small kiosk with trail information.
Happy Hiking!!!
The Zen Hiker 