The Years To Remember

 10/31/24 The sun is just setting but cars have been lining up on the street for the past half hour. Families are staging for the Trick Or Treat festivities, setting up wagons to pull, dressing the kids and adding makeup. If I still had a kid I'd be joining in too, but she out grew it all about 14 years ago. Now I turn out the outdoor lights, go out to dinner with friends, or cozy up at home. It begins slowly before dark.... I'm cozying up at home tonight due to the ear surgery I had this morning to try to get some hearing back. The anesthesia has rendered me useless today as I've had 3 naps, including the hour in the hospital. I was terrified to learn that I was scheduled to be intubated, but I managed to talk them into MACS which is all drugs but without the tube in my throat. We'll see if the procedure was successful in a few days. The San Diego/Carlsbad trip went really well. It was a laid back, hang at the beach location focusing on spending time with my sister and...

  It’s been a minute since I posted and I wish I could say I’ve been too busy, but that is not the case. I’ve just been lazy. I am currently stuck in Detroit as I missed my connection and have 4 hours to fill so writing a post seems like a good idea. Minnewaska Lake on a chilly morning. A wedding was taking place on the rocks across the lake. My one outing this past week was a very fun 7 mile fall hike to Gertrude's nose at Minnewaska State Park. The weather was perfect, the company fun, and the hike not too strenuous.  Out on the cliffs. The leaf colors are a bit muted this year, but approaching peak. Our group of weekday adventurers: Susan, me, Esther, Peggy, and Ann Marie. Just having a chat while hiking back to the car. My post hike soak in the spa in my own backyard. This was on a walk around the neighborhood admiring the foliage. I bought the sunflowers, but the others are from my garden. I was shocked to  see an iris blooming so I cut it for inside since we've...

The grassy area on the left is where we parked before the steep climb. It's been a hiking week now that temperatures have dropped. First was Blueberry Mountain with Geri and Lyne. This was nearly 2000 ft of elevation gain over a mile and a half, so very steep. The views were worth it though.  Looking north towards Whiteface Mtn. Geri and Lyne looking east towards Giant Mountain and Vermont. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. The dark mud slick on the rock was made by my backside as I fell and slid down about 12 ft. Who knew wet leaves on steep muddy rock  faces would be hard to walk on? Me, I knew, but just kept on until I fell.  Just a bruised  elbow and ego, though my back has had a twinge or two today.  After the hike, we stopped at Paradox Brewery for lunch and had the best Pumpkin Hard Cider we've ever tasted. The food was good too, including my first taste of poutine.  Pumpkin hard cider!  Beautiful fall day at the Brewery. When I got home...

 Last week was kind of quiet here but the weekend kicked off with lots of activity.  Sunrise from the drone. The reflection of clouds in the lake was a bit surreal. Friday morning I met Geri for a bike ride on the southern portion of the Harlem Valley trail. About 5 miles in, the trail was blocked off for trail repaving. Darn! We decided to take some roads to get past the closed section, but the roads took us straight up a big hill with several more to go. We elected to return on the closed section of trail which was roughed up but at least flat. What was supposed to be a 22 mile ride was just 13 miles. Anyway, we had lunch at the diner and enjoyed the nice weather.  Geri trying to navigate our way back to the trail. The rolling hills of the Harlem Valley were pretty. My sister and brother in law came for a visit Saturday morning. Bruce hadn't seen my house in 10 yrs or so, therefore he got a tour of all the renovations and changes - some still in progress. Then we went t...