“Listen and silent are spelled with the same letters. Think about it.”
-Unknown
It took me a few years to figure this out. Have you?? Will you??
Words To Live By…
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Tag Archives: Hudson Valley Hiking
A Respite From Winter
Winter takes a break
Flooding rains mar the landscape
Reality rules
Time
Tick tock, nasty clock
Seeds of time carefully sown
Move forward, alive
Brilliant
Looking out the window in front of me,
What is it now that I know I see?
Brilliant sunshine, wisps of white, naked trees and river white.
The limbs reach up ever towards the blue,
Waiting for the sunset to start anew.
The River
View from my window
Icy blocks floating slowly
Unquestioned beauty
Blue Sky
Blue sky
Popcorn clouds pass
Wispy streams of our lives
Fading away and forgotten
A single tear falls, abandoned
More tears of life and love
Time moves quickly
Fleeting
Unmasked
Pulling back the blinds
Memories rise to the edge
The pain unmasked, calm
You Gotta Love Snow Days!
As a teacher, one of the things I know that I look forward to every year are snow days. This particular storm brought us two days off based on the snow on Thursday and then on Friday as the brutally cold temperatures came in as the storm exited.
This was the scene last Thursday morning a couple of hours after the snow started flying. Not only did we get over seven inches of the white stuff, the wind was whipping, making the “real feel” really cold.
Marking Time
The tree sits alone
Christmas passes, stuck in time
Blues, reds, greens, dimming
Replaced with memories of
Time, shifting and sliding past
I Didn’t Freeze!!!!
“There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”
-Sir Ranulph Fiennes
With the weather getting really, really cold (single digits), I knew that if I was planning on getting out to hike anytime soon, I would have to upgrade my current gloves. For as long as I can remember, I have used white athletic socks on the days that I have had to wear gloves. I know that sounds strange, and I can not offer any good reason as to why I have done this for so long. This year, however, I decided to get a decent pair of gloves for a couple of reasons.
First, I have found that as I get older, the cold affects me more than in the past. I tend to get colder quicker and I lose feeling in my extremities Second, also sticking with the “getting older” theme, even when I go out for a day hike I make sure that I am prepared to spend the night in the woods if something happens. This holds true for every hike that I take during every season.
With all of that said, let’s talk about the gloves. The gloves that I purchased were the REI Co-Op Fleece Gloves, size large. Before I ordered them, I used the sizing chart on the REI website to determine what size I should get. After receiving them, I tried them on and was very happy when they fit perfectly.
The hat I purchased to complete the ensemble was the Wigwam Outlast Watch cap. As with the gloves, the hat fit perfectly. Made of fabric that is touted to dry quickly, I am sure that at some point I will be able to test this.
Now, even though I have not worn either of these items while hiking, I was able to test them last night. My daughter had hockey practice last night. While she is practicing, I usually sit in my jeep and read my kindle. When we got to the rink at 7:30 pm, the temperature was 11 degrees and the wind was blowing. Needless to say, it was cold!!!
As I sat in the jeep with my gloves and hat on, I fell asleep, only to be awakened an hour and a half later when the practice was finished. Based on the fact that the only part of me that was remotely cold were my feet, I have to give both items two big thumbs up! My head and hands were nice and toasty and I am sure that when I get into the woods, they will work just as well.
Happy Hiking!
The Zen Hiker 