One Step at a Time
Title
One Step at a Time
Description
Sleeping Giant Park, Hamden
Born with wanderlust, when the pandemic hit us fast and hard, I knew I had to get outside and to wander!
So, I started to hike.
I took it one step at time and then - wham! On my first “pandemic” hike, the sights, sounds and smells of the forest engulfed and cured me.
After weeks of wearing a mask outside, when no one else was on the hiking trail, I slipped my mask down below my chin and felt the return of what it was like to be outside before the pandemic. I started to feel a sense of the familiar and the renewed memories of days spent in the forest decades ago.
Sights! The hike to the Tower at Sleeping Giant is a magical wonder. It is a step into another world, a Currier and Ives painting. I loved the blue grey color of the rocks that pad the trail and the larger yellow-orange hunks of stone stacked against each other as I rounded a sharp corner. The sight of chipmunks dashing in front of me demanding to be seen, blue sky and cottony clouds hanging in the sky were all part of my private outside museum, if only for a short time.
Smells! Wet rocks and tree trunks offered their unique, invigorated bouquets. Stately evergreens cleared the air and their scents invaded my nostrils ending the mask blockade - a daily reminder that the virus is still with us. It almost felt as though I was breathing for the first time.
Sounds! Crickets, wind and bird songs filled my ears to drown out my brain’s incessant recordings of tv statistics of people dying near and far. The sound of crunching rocks rattled softly beneath my feet as I put one foot in front of the other with full confidence that I was being reunited with my humanness.
Hubbard Park, Meriden
Meeting up with other hikers willing to chat and hike at the same time, added to the richness of my experiences. Inevitably they would suggest another State park in CT that I just had to hike. I took these suggestions seriously and hiked many of them.
Sights! Curious about a suggestion to hike in Hubbard Park to Castle Craig in Meriden, I set off to see what it was all about. On my first trip, I walked up the paved road. Not knowing anything about how far away the Castle Craig was, and wanting to not know, I started walking.
The scenery on the walk up to the Castle brought back memories of the landscapes I had seen during walks taken through the vineyards on the shores of Lake Geneva, on train rides through northern Holland and from Paris to Rome and back. On this day, at one point, I reached the top to see Castle Craig for the first time, and to marvel at the breathtaking, pastel-colored views of the spectacle - Earth.
Sounds! On another day, I took the hiking trail through the forest to Castle Craig. What an adventure! I loved the trail, though, because it was varied…a little uphill, a little flat, a little uphill again and then near the top an incredible, stony, rocky uphill…it’s one step at time, but exhilarating!
On this hike, it took me time to escape thoughts of the pandemic and the crashing economy. But, it didn’t take long for me to “change that channel”. Part of the trail goes over the highway and the sounds of cars and trucks whizzing by, perhaps bracing to some, are quite a contrast to what I knew was ahead…nature waiting amongst all this chaos, impeccably beautiful and refreshing.
Smells! The mid-summer air on the hike up to the Castle was a good earthy smell. Through my nose, an ineffable tonic to the spirit that only Mother Earth can provide quickly took over. According to some research, five hours a month walking in a forest greatly improves mental health, but that’s only part of the story because a hike up to Castle Craig revives the spirit as well.
Talcott Mountain State Park, Avon, Bloomfield, Simsbury
It takes only about 15 minutes walking in a forest to make me feel alive. Motivated by that need, I didn’t mind that it took about an hour driving to get to Simsbury and to the beginning of the hiking trail to the Heublein Tower atop Talcott Mountain.
Sights! To me, Talcott Mountain State Park has everything. Stepping onto the trail is like walking through a gate. Not a little thing, but visitors, and there must be thousands every year, can see that they will be well accommodated with rest stations, posted maps and lovely, handcrafted benches alongside the steepest part of the trail. On the left at the beginning of the trail is an old stump with a large hole in the middle offering up a selection of nature-made walking sticks to assist you along your hike to the top. Unfortunately, the Heublein Tower is now closed to visitors because of the pandemic. But the grounds around the tower are well cared for and have picnic tables and places to rest.
Sounds! Quiet on the way up, I got lost and asked another hiker for directions and that led to the two of us walking and talking all the way to the top. He was a young man, born and raised in Florida with a few hours off from work in Avon. Everyday he goes to a special spot on the Mountain to take a picture and to create a daily, visual history of the wonders seen from Talcott Mountain.
Smells! The trail to the top is wide and inviting, but at the same time offers unbelievable scents of the earth, trees, rocks and dirt that surprisingly change with the weather and the seasons. Cool crisp air carried the fragrant smells of leaves in color – nutty, nutty, nutty!
I know that being in the forest embraces and regenerates all who enter, especially me. During the difficult times we are experiencing right now, for those who care and love being in the forest, after a hike in the forest they will love it even more.
Born with wanderlust, when the pandemic hit us fast and hard, I knew I had to get outside and to wander!
So, I started to hike.
I took it one step at time and then - wham! On my first “pandemic” hike, the sights, sounds and smells of the forest engulfed and cured me.
After weeks of wearing a mask outside, when no one else was on the hiking trail, I slipped my mask down below my chin and felt the return of what it was like to be outside before the pandemic. I started to feel a sense of the familiar and the renewed memories of days spent in the forest decades ago.
Sights! The hike to the Tower at Sleeping Giant is a magical wonder. It is a step into another world, a Currier and Ives painting. I loved the blue grey color of the rocks that pad the trail and the larger yellow-orange hunks of stone stacked against each other as I rounded a sharp corner. The sight of chipmunks dashing in front of me demanding to be seen, blue sky and cottony clouds hanging in the sky were all part of my private outside museum, if only for a short time.
Smells! Wet rocks and tree trunks offered their unique, invigorated bouquets. Stately evergreens cleared the air and their scents invaded my nostrils ending the mask blockade - a daily reminder that the virus is still with us. It almost felt as though I was breathing for the first time.
Sounds! Crickets, wind and bird songs filled my ears to drown out my brain’s incessant recordings of tv statistics of people dying near and far. The sound of crunching rocks rattled softly beneath my feet as I put one foot in front of the other with full confidence that I was being reunited with my humanness.
Hubbard Park, Meriden
Meeting up with other hikers willing to chat and hike at the same time, added to the richness of my experiences. Inevitably they would suggest another State park in CT that I just had to hike. I took these suggestions seriously and hiked many of them.
Sights! Curious about a suggestion to hike in Hubbard Park to Castle Craig in Meriden, I set off to see what it was all about. On my first trip, I walked up the paved road. Not knowing anything about how far away the Castle Craig was, and wanting to not know, I started walking.
The scenery on the walk up to the Castle brought back memories of the landscapes I had seen during walks taken through the vineyards on the shores of Lake Geneva, on train rides through northern Holland and from Paris to Rome and back. On this day, at one point, I reached the top to see Castle Craig for the first time, and to marvel at the breathtaking, pastel-colored views of the spectacle - Earth.
Sounds! On another day, I took the hiking trail through the forest to Castle Craig. What an adventure! I loved the trail, though, because it was varied…a little uphill, a little flat, a little uphill again and then near the top an incredible, stony, rocky uphill…it’s one step at time, but exhilarating!
On this hike, it took me time to escape thoughts of the pandemic and the crashing economy. But, it didn’t take long for me to “change that channel”. Part of the trail goes over the highway and the sounds of cars and trucks whizzing by, perhaps bracing to some, are quite a contrast to what I knew was ahead…nature waiting amongst all this chaos, impeccably beautiful and refreshing.
Smells! The mid-summer air on the hike up to the Castle was a good earthy smell. Through my nose, an ineffable tonic to the spirit that only Mother Earth can provide quickly took over. According to some research, five hours a month walking in a forest greatly improves mental health, but that’s only part of the story because a hike up to Castle Craig revives the spirit as well.
Talcott Mountain State Park, Avon, Bloomfield, Simsbury
It takes only about 15 minutes walking in a forest to make me feel alive. Motivated by that need, I didn’t mind that it took about an hour driving to get to Simsbury and to the beginning of the hiking trail to the Heublein Tower atop Talcott Mountain.
Sights! To me, Talcott Mountain State Park has everything. Stepping onto the trail is like walking through a gate. Not a little thing, but visitors, and there must be thousands every year, can see that they will be well accommodated with rest stations, posted maps and lovely, handcrafted benches alongside the steepest part of the trail. On the left at the beginning of the trail is an old stump with a large hole in the middle offering up a selection of nature-made walking sticks to assist you along your hike to the top. Unfortunately, the Heublein Tower is now closed to visitors because of the pandemic. But the grounds around the tower are well cared for and have picnic tables and places to rest.
Sounds! Quiet on the way up, I got lost and asked another hiker for directions and that led to the two of us walking and talking all the way to the top. He was a young man, born and raised in Florida with a few hours off from work in Avon. Everyday he goes to a special spot on the Mountain to take a picture and to create a daily, visual history of the wonders seen from Talcott Mountain.
Smells! The trail to the top is wide and inviting, but at the same time offers unbelievable scents of the earth, trees, rocks and dirt that surprisingly change with the weather and the seasons. Cool crisp air carried the fragrant smells of leaves in color – nutty, nutty, nutty!
I know that being in the forest embraces and regenerates all who enter, especially me. During the difficult times we are experiencing right now, for those who care and love being in the forest, after a hike in the forest they will love it even more.
Creator
Mathews, Lindsay
Identifier
pandemic008
Collection
Citation
Mathews, Lindsay, “One Step at a Time,” New Haven Free Public Library Digital Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://nhfpl.omeka.net/items/show/935.