Month: May 2019

Sunday Serenity: Looking Closer

Posted on by Annie

One of my favorite things about hiking is the invitation to focus on individual elements of the environment around me. It’s easier, at least to me, to see the big picture: the sunset horizon, the canopy of trees overhead. I might lose myself in thought as I walk, barely noticing the rocks and roots my feet are stepping over. When I slow down and look-really look-around, I see small delights everywhere.  The forest is dense with life here in the South. From ivy climbing up trees to a flock of wild turkeys, there’s almost too much to see. I stopped…

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Update: May 15, 2019

Posted on by Annie

It’s been both a social whirl and a struggle to get connectivity the last week or so. I’ve been camping with friends and had a great time, from the coast to the Blue Ridge and the edge of the Smokies. Man, it’s beautiful country here.  That’s the road north of Asheville heading into Tennessee. Some serious grades but the views and the greenery are worth it. For a bit of contrast, here’s a trail I was on last week in South Carolina. Yes, I have finally said my farewells to that state, after spending pretty much half of 2019 so…

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Four Small Things

Posted on by Annie

Living in a trailer doesn’t leave much room for souvenirs or mementos, so I keep them constrained to a small plastic bin about the size of a shoebox. It holds special concert tickets, my first real bracelet, coins from my travels, and these four things that belonged to my mother. This pin was in her jewelry box when she died. It’s a Phi Kappa Phi pin. I had to look that up. I have no idea when she was awarded membership into that honor society. Was it when she was at UCLA as a freshman in 1949? Or when she…

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Update: May 8, 2019

Posted on by Annie

I’m just going to skip over much of the last two weeks because a serious head cold had me down for a lot of that time. They say a cold lasts a week despite meds and rest, and I found that to be pretty accurate. All over but the sniffles and tiredness now. Instead, I’m going to post a bunch of beautiful coastal images I took before I left the beach scene for the slow, steady trek up north via two more months in the South.  This was an overcast day at Edisto, which is yet another beautiful South Carolina…

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Alto-versary #3

Posted on by Annie

A little over four years ago, I put money down on a lightweight trailer. I had the crazy idea to quit my full-time job and wander around the country. I was burned out and in serious need of a life reboot. Three years ago, on May 2, I picked up that trailer, an Alto 1743 hand-made by Safari Condo. I’d never towed a thing, didn’t really get how the wide mirrors worked, and I definitely couldn’t back that thing up. But my mother had raised me to think I could do anything I put my mind to, so I had…

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