It’s not an exciting view, but it is a lovely one.  How could I be anything but serene while looking at it?

Today, for no particular reason (as Gump might have said), I brought Randy to Bartholomew’s Cobble.  The Cobble is made up of trails through the forest, along a river, or up hills.  Though it’s only one small town away, Randy had never been there before.  So when Randy asked me if I wanted to go for a walk this afternoon, I suggested Hurlburt’s Hill (HH) in the Cobble.  Off we went.

It’s a couple of  miles to the top of HH, through forest and fields.  The last bit is fairly steep and cuts through shoulder-high grasses.  By the time I got to the wooden memorial benches on the summit, I was convinced they were going to have to put another there in my name.  It’s really not that strenuous a walk if you’re in shape, but I spent a great deal of the past year laid up with back problems, so it took a lot out of me.  My back hurts now, of course, but it was well worth it.  I was able to watch the season finale of Jillian Michaels’ “Losing It” with a sense of righteousness: I got off my butt today.  In fact, I tweeted JM to tell her what I’d done, and dedicated the climb to her.  I realize she doesn’t care, but I did it anyway.  It made me laugh.

The view from the summit is gorgeous, although it was a little hazy today.  Still, you’ll be seeing photos from the hike here.  It’s always been a favorite spot of mine.  When I was younger it was my go-to spot when I was hurting or angry.  By the time I got to the top, the angry energy had been burned off.  The lovely pastoral view awaiting me would finish off the last of the negativity, leaving me with a sense of peace.  If I was troubled, I would find the answers I sought.  I had no problems to sift through today, however.  Today’s visit was for the pleasure of it.  I’ve been writing a lot lately about reconnecting with my past.  My family and I would walk the trails or hike to the top of HH in the summer, where we’d picnic.  Today’s outing was another step in my journey to reconnect to the good things from my past.

I was rewarded with wildlife.  As in… insects.  Next time I’ll remember bug spray.  There were also lots of birds and squirrels of course.  The real treat was the baby skunk who loitered on the only path through the tall grass.  We came across her as we were walking back down the hill.  As she kept running along the path rather than retreating into the grass, it became obvious that I was going to have to find a way around her.  I am not fond of tomatoes, or tomato juice, and I certainly wasn’t interested in bathing in the stuff because a skunk sprayed me.  In the end I spoke softly and soothingly.  She would occasionally stop, back up to the grass, and watch me fearfully.  I waited for this to happen again, and then slowly walked around her with my back to her in a non-aggressive manner so she could see that I didn’t pose a threat.  She let me by.  Randy cautiously followed my lead and, though he does like tomatoes, he also wasn’t keen to bathe in them, and he was equally grateful therefore to get past the baby skunk without incident.  Shortly after we passed her by, she waddled into the grass.  So she was just stubbornly standing his ground with us.  Bravo to her I say!

It was a great afternoon, and we’ll go back to the Cobble next Tuesday when Randy has time off again, assuming the weather permits.  We’ve got more trails to explore, more wildlife to see and…

…more bugs to feed.

I don’t have much to say other than, despite my troubles, I feel really good.

Sit and rest a spell.  Where are you going, traveler?

How can anyone with rainbows in her eyes look so grumpy?