Sometimes you just have to stop and grab a quick picture of the thing – the pretty field, the tree lined street and the barn against a summer sky are good examples. It’s worth the moment it will take. Really, it is.
Keep your eyes peeled, friends. You never know when you might see something special that no one else notices and rustle up a picture that makes you smile.
The desire to run away from home is pretty strong right now. Never fear, adventure is in the horizon and I won’t really run away from home. Scout would be so mad if I did. So, I am reliving memories from trips of summers past. This photo tells a story from my trip to Colorado in August 2023.
My western adventure pal picked me up at the Denver airport and we did a huge loop out to Grand Junction, down the Million Dollar Highway and through the Four Corners Region. I wrote about it a lot back then because we packed lots of fun into that week.
The day we took the Durango and Silverton Scenic Railway was one of my favorite trip memories. It leaves Durango in the morning and chugs up the mountain to the village of Silverton where you explore while they turn the train around. It was absolutely gorgeous but a long, slow, and exhausting ride. We were both sort of over the train ride experience by the time we arrived at Silverton and were glad to learn we could pay a few extra bucks for a fast bus ride down the mountain. We, along with several others, gratefully did that and were glad for the smooth ride back to the car.
In this picture, I imagine these gentlemen are settling their wager over how many people would abandon the train for the bus that day!
Ha!
I bet they see a lot of people like us who are ready for a soft seat and a smooth ride after hours in an antique train car!
It was a fun experience that I would highly recommend. The train takes you through places you will never see from the car and will likely hike to on foot. Just be sure wait to book the train/bus ticket combo when you buy your tickets!
WordPress has begun giving me a rundown of my own posts from this day in history and it has been a real hoot to look back through the vault. Not everything has held up as some of it doesn’t really matter anymore but some of it is stuff I would still recommend.
Here are a few stories from this day that I thought you might enjoy revisiting.
Hillbilly Hot Dog is a West Virginia landmark and practically an institution at this point. It’s one I’ve those places you have to see to believe. Click here to read about it.
Speaking of institutions, the Wright Brothers are an institution unto themselves. We can argue all we want about whether aviation began in Ohio or North Carolina (it was Ohio, by the way) but Orville Wright chose to preserve his legacy and his brother’s in Dayton. THIS is a cool place to visit.
On the bookstore front, Hudson, Ohio has a delightful local bookstore called The Learned Owl. Hudson is a neat town too so plan to stay for a few hours. Read about the Learned Owl here.
I did some philosophizing about having something to look forward to on this day last year. It still applies.
And back in 2020, amidst the sickness, closures and supply chain issues, I was yearning for another time. Oh, to go back to this old store’s glory days.
Have a great Sunday, friends.
PS – today’s feature image exists solely to show off my house panther. He already knows he’s handsome but I’ll be sure to let him know the internet agrees.
This summer has been almost completely void of adventure and there’s a good reason for that. You see, I have been staying home because of a remodeling project in my master bathroom.
My wonderful cousin did the work for me but he mostly could only work on Saturdays so all my day trip days were spent at home. Also, all my day trip money was spent on this project so that worked out nicely! Ha!
Normally by this time I would have at least five or six really good day trips under my belt and maybe some hikes. Instead, I have been doing household chores and reading while Nathan worked.
Now the work is done and I’m thrilled to have things put together and looking nice. He did a great job!
The project started because there was a leak at the shower. Repairing that leak was a good excuse to replace the flooring because carpet in a bathroom is an awful idea. As long as we were doing that, it made sense to replace the 23 year old toilet and stand alone tub and then there was the matter of the sink….
You get the idea.
It was a pyramid scheme, this bathroom of mine.
But it’s all done with fixtures and colors that I find timeless and calming. This wall is the focal point. There’s still some work to be done with rearranging things. I like the variety of old and new, farmhouse and polish, gold next to black metal and white fixtures.
I value the small details like this hook for my pjs. The swan reminds me of my stay at the Broadmoor where there are nods to the swans around the property.
The shower is a pure delight in the morning with vintage style knobs and a great shower head. I especially lIke the pretty doors but decided to frame them with some sheer curtains just to soften the room a bit. Unfortunately the glass is so shiny and nice that it’s impossible to get decent picture without lots of reflections with the lights on – and it looks really terrible with the lights out. But you get the idea.
And I’m really happy with the new sink and faucet too! I have always liked this style of sink. The pump style faucet is very low flow but it suits my needs just fine.
And, of course, the house panther has already chewed on the new house plant so much that I had no choice but to move it from this corner already. It was nice while it lasted!
By the way, the flower pot is McCoy and the little stand is an old smoking stand. Both pieces came from the Logan Antique Mall, one of my favorite places to find hidden treasure.
In all, it turned out well and I’m pleased to have a space that feels special even on a regular old workday. It’s comfortable and feels a little like it has always been this way. I am not a fancy person but do appreciate the quiet luxury of pretty pictures on the wall, a great soaker tub after a long day, and powerful shower heads to wake me up in the morning!
Friends, while we may enjoy our adventures, it’s important to have a happy place to come home to. While I’m sad for what I’ve missed out on the world this summer, I’m so grateful to have this sanctuary to call my own.
Values.
This is a word I have thought about a lot lately. I’m trying to align how I spend my time with what I value. I’m trying to spend my money with companies whose values are similar to my own or at least whose values are things I can live with. I’m trying to be careful to not allow people whose opinions I do not value drag down my energy. I’m trying to question the true values of those who want something from me. I find that some people will manipulate you at every turn if they want your vote/money/help regardless of whose grandmother they have to sell to get their way.
Values matter.
This week, I took two very small actions to speak up for my values. Last night I went to Wheatberry Bookstore in downtown Chillicothe where I bought a couple of books. I’m calling them birthday gifts for myself because, as my mother would say, I need more books like I need another hole in my head.
This won’t stop me from buying them, mind you, but my birthday is coming and who can argue with presents?
Buying books is hardly an act of revolution but Wheatberry is a charming independent bookstore in a downtown where small businesses are suffering because of construction. Honestly, it isn’t nearly as bad as locals think it is and I had no trouble navigating where I needed to be.
If I want them to survive, I need to make sure I’m supporting them. Granted, my two book purchase won’t make that much of a difference but my two books and your two books and someone else’s two books will add up.
I value having a bookstore nearby and I value the programs, kids stuff, and community mindedness they bring to the table. Supporting authors is important to me as is making sure a variety of books are accessible locally.
I need to act like they matter.
The other thing I did was join in a chorus of voices expressing our dissatisfaction that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) was entertaining the idea gas powered boats should be allowed on Lake Hope.
In a busy, noisy and all together sometimes unpleasant world, Lake Hope is a last bastion of quiet and calm. I hike there. I know people who bird watch and pass the day floating around in their kayaks. I have sat near the shore reading and solving all the world’s problems beneath a peaceful autumn sky. The air is cleaner and the world feels lighter once your boots hit the trail at Lake Hope State Park.
I get irritated when people are hiking with loud music or let their kids scream like banshees on a forest trail. Yes, I sound like an old crank but that kind of noise scares away the wildlife and ruins the experience for everyone around. I certainly don’t want to listen to someone’s boat motor.
So I wrote a letter like many people and became part of a movement that forced ODNR to listen. A single voice might not have mattered but a lot of us together brought meaningful change.
Humans need a place where we can go for free and listen to the frogs, watch a squirrel scurry up a tree, and witness a turtle sunbathing on a half submerged log. We need a place to go where your only job is to enjoy the aroma of pine trees and the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot.
The wonderful thing about living in America is that we can make individual contributions that will matter. A single snowflake is hardly noticeable but put enough of them together and you might have a blizzard on your hands.
Contact your politicians. Stand up for what you know is right. Support the businesses you want to keep in your community. Get your friends to help too.
Exercise your right to free speech and stand up for what matters to you. Living your values is how things get done.
The world is what you choose to see.
I was leaving a shop in downtown Jackson, Ohio when I happened to look up. Check out this view. All these brightly painted buildings really popped against the gloomy sky. Rain was coming but it didn’t matter because the colors were so pretty.
Whether you look at this photo and see a gloomy sky or pretty buildings is up to you. Just know that life is a little easier when you embrace the happy colors than when you only focus on the bad.
Have a great Monday, friends. Go look for something beautiful today!