Monthly Archives: April 2024

The Very Best Thing

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In telling the story of this last long weekend in Cincinnati, it seems prudent to start with the very best and favorite thing that we did. I hope you like it too because you most likely will hear about it more because there are so many pictures and stories to tell from just this place.

Our very favorite place was …… drumroll, please……. a cemetery.

Crickets.

I know. Hear me out.

It isn’t just a cemetery. It’s an arboretum too and the Grande Dame of all the amazing cemeteries at least in this part of the country.

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum was established in 1845. This nonprofit has 750 acres of trees, 44 miles of paved roads and fifteen lakes. We never left the historic section so I have no idea what the new sections look like but the old areas are amazing.

We parked at the visitors’ center (yes, they have a visitors’ center) and went inside for maps and an overview from a nice man who helped to orient us. There’s a printed walking tour as well as lists of notable people buried here.

From the visitors’ center, you walk under an old stone railroad bridge into what feels like Heaven on Earth. I will be honest with you, we did most of the walking tour but not all. That’s because every stop on the map was surrounded on all directions by other things we wanted to see.

Spring Grove had been on my radar for some time but I had never made it there for one reason or another. I had seen pictures and heard stories but none of it, and I do mean none of it, prepared me for this place.

It is stunning.

When I told Adam about it, I just described it as a cool old cemetery, purposefully trying to surprise him. Little did I know how shockingly beautiful, amazing, and jaw droppingly awesome it would be for a couple of cemetery nerds.

I suppose I should explain that trees are unwelcome in our local cemeteries. Even gorgeous old trees that people love aren’t safe from being cut down if they are too near the boundaries of a cemetery. To find a place that not only has trees but celebrates them is wonderful.

The trees alone are incredible, providing comforting shade on the hot sunny days we visited. They also provide wonderful habitat for an abundance of birds that flitted about chirping and singing their little hearts out.

We were delighted by the turtles, swans and ducks that call the lakes home.

There are monuments of all sizes and mausoleums of varying architectural styles. One monument put up by the International Order of Oddfellows celebrates friendship, love and truth.

There’s a sense of one-upmanship in the historic areas as one wealthy family after another built grandiose mausoleums and erected artwork at their family plots. Columns, obelisks, statuary, granite reliefs, busts and orbs are common.

The true showstopper though is the Dexter, a mausoleum and chapel that robbed me of words for a full minute.

We saw people out walking and running. The cemetery actually puts out mile marker signs along a suggested route to help folks reach their fitness goals. We saw a woman painting and a man reading book. On Sunday, a group of volunteers had convened to plant flowers and I was jealous of them all. We agreed that we would be there all the time of we lived close enough and I’m sure I would volunteer to help out.

Come back tomorrow to read about the Dexter. It has a great backstory and one worthy of its own telling.

Want to visit Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum? Click here for their website. Here you’ll even find a list of upcoming events including tours and volunteer days.

First Adventure Weekend of 2024

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My reward for finishing a big project at work was to run away for a long weekend and do something fun. I feel most like myself when traveling new roads and exploring places and ideas that are different than what I normally see.

It was a long stretch from my last multi-day adventure in December till this weekend when the road found me in Cincinnati. Golly, did I nee it and  WOW was it a good weekend! 

Cincinnati has a lot to do in terms of museums, historic homes, public art and bookstores – all the nerd stuff I love best. Having indoor activities was important because rain was forecasted a few days ahead of time. 

Turns out, the weather wasn’t a concern other than the unexpected heat that made us so grateful for air conditioning. 

I have many stories to tell from these last few days, so many I don’t even know where to begin

There’s something special about the sense of discovery that comes with visiting new ground. Perhaps that’s why we both loved Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum so much that we went twice. This historic place is a slice of Cincinnati like none other. It’s a cemetery but it’s also a park with gorgeous trees and ponds, rolling hills and as many turtles and birds as you’ll find in any state park.

We rambled through the natural history museum and Adam got to try Skyline Chili for the first time. We also hit five bookstores and toured the William Howard Taft National Historic Site where I learned some interesting things about the former President and his good friend Teddy Roosevelt. 

Stay tuned, friends. There are stories to come!

Thoughts On The Quality Of Thoughts With Marcus Aurelius

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Once upon a time, people put effort into thinking about things. Leaders sought wisdom and truth. They sought to improve themselves and the world around them. Character, logic, learning and quality of life were among common goals. 

One of those great thinkers, Marcus Aurelius, was born on this day in the year 121. He was a philosopher and Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 180. 

He wrote about many topics which you can read in Meditations, a book he wrote as guidance for his own self improvement. One of the topics he covered frequently was this idea that the quality of our thoughts impacts everything else in our life.

You might say he was one of the world’s first self help gurus! 

To be honest, I haven’t read the book but my fella did and shared with me his favorite passages along the way. I have read a little about Aurelius here and there and always stop to ponder his writings on the quality of thoughts.. 

This has been a prevalent topic for me these last few weeks. I’m doing a weekly leadership training at work where the quality of our thoughts is a topic of focus. The theme of thoughts and the stories we tell ourselves has popped up in other ways lately as well causing me to think that I’m meant to hear and work with a specific message. 

Marcus said:

You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

In other words, you can’t control the rest of the world but you can control what information you choose to consume and how you choose to react. Guard your thoughts and guard your mind for greater strength. 

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

Your happiness doesn’t hinge on your fancy car or  new boat. How you choose to think about and view your life and what’s happening around you will absolutely determine your level of happiness. Isn’t that an incredible thought? You are the master of your fate every time you choose to put a positive spin on your thoughts. Hold onto negativity and you’ll be a master of destruction and doubt.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

This is an especially important one with our constant exposure to information and the truly horrifying spiral of the American political system into pure lies and borderline treason. Not to mention the deep lies and manipulation made possible by AI.  Don’t listen to or at least don’t believe everything you hear or see. 

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. 

Be whoever and whatever you wish to be. In an ever maddening world where you can’t always make things better, you can at least improve on yourself. And if you can improve you, then maybe you stand a chance of making the rest of the world at least a little bit better. 

In the grand scheme of things, self betterment is really all any of us can guarantee. I hope that Marcus Aurelius would be pleased to know that his ideas for self betterment and the will to control our own thoughts still resonate with some of us today.

Happy Birthday Marcus Aurelius!

Reflections

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My last multi-day adventure was to Ohio’s Amish Country in December. It was sort of a bust. In fact, I’m so far behind in storytelling I can’t remember if any of those stories even made it here.

I haven’t really allowed myself to dream about this year’s adventures but am hoping to get in a fun weekend soon.

There’s nothing more invigorating than setting out early in the morning to explore the road less traveled. Some of my best adventures have been a few days in a place where I have just walked around, taking pictures, talking to people and seeing what’s what.

It has been too long since I had one of these trips and man, am I excited to get one in.

Will you go somewhere this year or will you be a tourist in your own back yard? Either way can be lots of fun! Tell me all about it!

Lonely Places

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I think I am in this world to find beauty in the lonely places.

Louis L’amour, American writer

That’s a pretty good reason to keep going, if you ask me.

Unscripted Travel Memories Are Often The Best

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What travel memories stick with you the most? Which ones are your happiest? For me, it’s rarely what I plan or expect in any way. It’s often the stuff there was no way to foresee and the things I just stumble into.

My cousin and I had several of these moments in Michigan last year. We got up one morning to hike at Sleeping Bear Dunes and to visit Point Betsie Lighthouse. When we left out Traverse City hotel, it was looking to be a decent day but there was a threat of storms at Sleeping Bear. Boy, were there storms. When we arrived at the visitors’ center, the sky had turned dark and had opened up into a torrential downpour. 

So, we skipped the hike and drove out to Point Betsie, an 1858 era lighthouse on the shore of Lake Michigan. It’s fully automated now and the free museum had just closed for the season so we could only walk around outside. Since we were so close, we thought we should at least go see it before heading back to town for some thrifiting and lunch at a vintage pancake house. 

Unfortunately, I was poorly attired for this venture. Actually, I think we both were but I really regretted my decision to wear shorts and a tank top the minute I forced my car door open against the wind. 

Indian Summer had vanished in the blink of an eye, taking with it my illusions that it would eventually warm up. Michigan weather can turn on a dime and it’s no joke when it does. 

We donned our hats and headed to the lake shore for a few photos and to admire this beautiful spot. The wind was whipping up more and more with each passing moment. While the rain had stopped, hard waves beat the shore and shot up sprays of frigid lake water. 

At one point, I thought I noticed someone on the lighthouse porch. They likely wondered about these middle aged fools who had dressed to face the elements in shorts and sun hats. 

By then, we were soaked, tired and hungry. Those pancakes were calling our names. Bargains awaited. It was time to go. 

But first, here came a woman with an umbrella chair, cooler and snack bag. She was dressed for the elements and excited to be there. “There’s a storm rolling in,” she exclaimed. It was her day off and she was excited to watch whatever Mother Nature had in store. This evidently was a lifelong passion of hers and she was thrilled not to miss it on this glorious stormy September day. She assured us she would be fine. She does this all the time. 

“Good for her,” I said, climbing into the car and turning up the heat. Pancakes and warmer clothes were sounding pretty good to me by then. We headed back to town where we could ride out the storm indoors and with bags full of bargains. 

It was unscripted, unplanned, unpredictable and a day I’m unlikely to forget. By the way, the pancakes were great too!