At a class IV Rapid on the Connecticut River during my Source to Sea Paddle

Blog


  • Ready to Go

    By Mary Anderson I am making the last preparations before I leave home. I have the van mostly packed. My food boxes are ready to go out. My pack awaits a few last-minute items but is otherwise ready for adventure. I’ve got food to eat while driving across country. I even have my dishes done.

    Continue reading


  • Hiking, Writing, and Healing

    May 21, 2021 By Mary Anderson As far back as I can remember, I have lived with dissociation that comes with post-traumatic stress. In my early childhood, to survive severe abuse I created separate places in my being where certain experiences lived, walled off from the rest of myself and not able to interact with

    Continue reading


  • How to Cross a River

    May 20, 2021 By Mary Anderson Mary at a river crossing in New York State. Cross as early in the morning as possible, so the water will be lower, due to cooler night temps slowing down the snow melt. This will ensure you are half asleep when you hit the icy water. Try to assess

    Continue reading


  • Finding the Rhyme and Rhythm

    May 19, 2021 By Mary Anderson When I write poetry I feel that every word counts in a way it does not when I write prose. It’s kind of like how every ounce matters in my pack these days. Certainly I weighed everything last year and even cut the handle of my toothbrush shorter. But

    Continue reading


  • Balance

    May 18, 2021 By Mary Anderson So yesterday I wrote about cutting down on weight. Today it is about balance. I’m working on finding the balance between what I keep in my pack and what gets left behind—just like when I strive to find the balance in my writing between what gets left in and

    Continue reading


  • Sleeping on the Trail

    May 17, 2021 By Mary Anderson Settling in for the night in the Chihuahuan Desert. It is not the mice or bear that sometimes make me restless at night. It is all the stuff inside my sleeping bag. I can’t let my water filter freeze, so I throw it into the foot of my sleeping

    Continue reading