For much of my life, happiness eluded me. My childhood was spent engulfed in the pain of trying to survive emotional and sexual abuse. After my father’s death, when I had just turned 13, I became even more depressed and isolated. Being constantly teased at school added to my unhappiness and deep feelings of loneliness.…

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Ive been thinking lately about the juxtaposition of the old and the new. While visiting one old friend and two new ones in Cortez, Colorado, I had the great fortune of visiting both the Canyon of the Ancients and Mesa Verde National Park to see ruins of structures built by the Ancestral Pueblonans more than…

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I got all my boxes packed and taped for the hike and did most of the things I needed to do before setting off on the PNT. This included getting prepared for my online presentation about my source to sea paddle on the Connecticut River river (you can find the recording here https://youtu.be/q5n9O1i0_J8 ) I…

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I am taking this moment to say a quick thank you to all who read and follow me. And a special thanks to all who have shared with me so that I could purchase the new ipad. Through your generosity I have been able to purchase it and have enough to stay a few nights…

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As my time in Santa Fe was drawing to a close, I was surprised to find I was feeling nostalgic about the desert. I grew up on the East Coast and love the greenery. While I have enjoyed hiking the desert sections of the Continental Divide Trail, the PCT and the Arizona Trail, I never…

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I mentioned before that Santa Fe has laws about what color the houses can be painted. There are a few gray ones but most of the dwellings are some shade of brown. Today on my walk I noticed that some of the houses had blue doors and window frames. Others had red roofs. I laughed…

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