"Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood...."

She finally made it!

On this bleak winter's evening, I thought I would write something inspirational, although I'm going to take a winding road to get to that inspiration!

In 2010, my older daughter did a science research summer internship in New Hampshire and fell in love with hiking. So, during her senior year at the university, she began making plans to hike the Appalachian Trail as soon as she graduated. 

That entire spring semester, she was consumed with planning the daily mileage to be hiked, researching gear, and trying to convince me everything would be fine. (Years before, when she was just 12 years old, we'd been planning to go out on the Trail for a few hundred miles, as a mother/daughter bonding journey. But, life's circumstances had made that impossible and now she was heading out there without me.) One of her male friends from school decided he thought it may be fun to attempt, so he made plans to accompany her. 

They were going to begin at Harper's Ferry in Virginia and hike to Mount Katahdin in Maine.  I was a bit happier that she was hiking with a friend; so, even though I had some reservation, I tried to be supportive.

The few trains that pass through our town don't stop to pick up passengers, but in a small town just about an hour north of us, they do.  The train that they needed to catch came through at 3:00 am.  We had left the house around midnight in order to get there and get checked in. 

McAfee Knob -  AT, Virginia

As the train emerged through the darkness and pulled into that deserted station, not a person was in sight.  After a hasty good-bye, the train was off again as quickly as it had come, and I was left wondering why I'd agreed to the whole plan.

To summarize this quickly, - her friend lasted only 8 days before returning home.  My daughter hiked on for almost 500 miles alone.  One morning around 6:00 am, I got a phone call asking if I'd help her get home....I was on the road north 15 minutes later.

She was very unhappy that she hadn't completed what she had set out to do, and began planning her hike for the next summer.  But, this time she planned to hike the whole thing ---Georgia to Maine.  April 14th, we drove her to Georgia and dropped her at the trail head of the AT the next morning.

And....she did hike the whole thing --- 2180+ miles.  She had a wonderful time. I had a nerve-racking time; however, I knew she was doing something that she'd had her heart set on doing. It took her several months and she met many wonderful people along the way.

My younger daughter joined her for a short time and they hiked together for about a week or so. My role during the whole hike was SUPPLIER. I spent the summer dehydrating food, packing supply boxes, and mailing them to her pre-arranged postal stops/drops.

Somewhere along the way, she got Lyme Disease and even though she wasn't bothered by it at the time, she was soon after......but that is another Post by itself.

This spring she begins her hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Mexico to Canada to raise money for Lyme Research.  To learn more about her hike, click     http://www.hikefor.com/Rainbow_Dash/PCT/2015

AT View 

What had started for her as an interest, rapidly developed as a passion, and now is impacting the lives of others.  I am proud of her for making a difference.

".....somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, -and I

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

               

                          - Robert Frost

Build it and They will Come.....Home!

A gorgeous day on the Farm.

         A Thanksgiving Tribute

 On this day of celebrating all that we are thankful for, I will do the same.  J 

My blog profile states how I was a Navy brat for years and then was a civilian living overseas after that.  I was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to London, England when I was only six weeks old.  I’ve lived in other countries such as the Philippines, Cyprus, Italy (3 different times), Spain and the US states of South Carolina, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, and finally, Kentucky. 

During the early years on the Farm.

While all that was very exciting and I usually loved every moment of it, I never developed “roots”, but I always believed that – “home is where the heart is”.  During those years, I was either a child with my family, a wife with my husband, or a parent with my children. Either way, I was with my dearest friends and I did believe that home was where the heart was.  Through the years I have made many friends and left many friends in all corners of the world. And on nostalgic occasions, such as Thanksgiving, I think of each of them even more.  Fond memories are a wonderful function of our brain.  J

From living in so many other countries/places and being immersed in various cultures other than my own, I gained an understanding and acceptance of people being different from how I am. Traditions and holidays from around the world have always fascinated me, and my family has incorporated many of them into our own celebrations through the years. While this has made me feel connected to the world, I still was lacking that grounded feeling…that feeling of “roots”.

Gorgeous Wisteria growing larger each year!

When we were living overseas and would come back to the States to visit extended family and friends, I always felt a small tug of envy that the people we saw had “roots”. They could walk through their hometown and tell a story relating back years with all the same people. I could tell stories too, but my places and people always varied.  I guess they were as envious of my adventures as I was of their stability.

About 14 years ago, I decided it was time to finally be grounded.  No more moving from place to place; I wanted to make sure my children felt like they were from SOME  WHERE in particular.  Although it was a lifestyle change for me, I thought I was giving my children what I’d always been longing for.

We had owned homes other places, but when I bought in Kentucky, it was different—I bought a large tract of land. I like to think of it as our homestead!  J   The land had been farm land prior to my purchase.  I remember asking the owner what the land had been used for. Had it ever been a dump? What had they grown on the land? The list of questions was long.  And, I still remember his confused look while he simply answered that he had owned the land for over fifty years and before that it had been farmed.  J 

Imax, just hanging out under an apricot tree.

Perimeter fencing went up even before we moved on to the land.  This was more to keep our animals in than to stake my claim on the land.  Whenever I say “claim the land”, I get such a visual and not necessarily a nice one…..On this Thanksgiving Day, I will pause for just a moment to let you think of the contrast with how different the settlers had been from the Native Americans.  L

Our land was undeveloped grassland with a very slight gentle roll. There were no trees except at the very back of the property.  We had our work cut out for us; we built the farm from the bottom up. We put in paddocks, built run-ins, plowed a garden, planted an orchard, built the home and then landscaped. It has been a long progress and one that probably will never be completed – there will always something to do.  

My oldest daughter was joined by my youngest,
 and they hiked together for just a bit
on the Appalachian Trail.

But while the trees, shrubs, and all other plants were beginning to grow roots, and become established, I felt the same thing happening for me.  Finally I had a place that I called home. I had never had that before. In the past when asked where I was from, I just always said, “Well, I was born in Pennsylvania but left for England when I was six weeks old.”  Now, I had the farm. And the dogs, horses, llamas, and sheep living with us are all our pets.

Each new generation should go forth, learn new things, meet new people, see the world, and gain a richer appreciation of life. One daughter has hiked from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail and is planning to hike from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail this next year to raise money for the research on Lyme Disease.  hikefor sponsor link      And, my other daughter is planning to go to graduate school in Europe.  

McAfee Knob in Virginia

Even though they are independent and long for adventure and to see the world, I know the farm, their homestead, and their mother will call to them and eventually they will return home.  J    Ah, yes, build it and they will come…..home. 

                                                                                           Happy Thanksgiving!