Cool Gray Days
            Sometimes things feel too hot to handle. Temperatures, tempers… Add to that flare ups in a deadly virus, and explosively hot emotions over social issues. It’s easy to get caught up and feel feverish ourselves.
            Finding an escape from the heat—literally and figuratively—is a matter of survival. For lack of a better remedy, I “cool off” an overheated mind and soul with long walks.
            People in the San Francisco Bay Area know that heading to the coast is the best way to get a break from inland heat, which can easily rise over 100 °F. Living near Ocean Beach in San Francisco means chilly summer days with the heater on, nary an air conditioner to be seen.
            Though we enjoy hikes further inland, the heat knocks us back quickly as we’re used to our coastal average range of 45°F to 72°F. Our favorite hiking spots parallel our own microclimate.
            One of those “comfort zones” is Rodeo Beach and Lagoon in the Marin Headlands. We find happiness and calm just from the Golden Gate Bridge drive and a short walk on the beach, but also enjoy more challenging hikes in the hills. Memories of earlier days when my sons were little—before my younger son’s overwhelming neurosensory challenges trapped us in our own home—float up when we take the lagoon trail rising toward the Marin Headlands Visitor Center.
            My older son enjoys choosing the path sometimes. On a recent cool, foggy day, he led us around the full circle of the Lagoon Loop Trail, which we hadn’t done for years. Caught without my camera, I took iPhone snapshots, hoping to capture the soothing gray-green coolness of an overcast summer walk by Rodeo Lagoon.
            This week’s Hike Notes lead readers around the Rodeo Lagoon Loop – Marin Headlands. Rodeo Beach is a great starting spot for many hikes, including this 1.5 mile loop around the lagoon, which is also a bird watcher’s delight.
            The long list of Hikes can be found on the Quick View Hike List and on the main Hikes page. All past Insights posts can also be viewed in the Insights/Hike Update News archives.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Please feel free to share.
New this week:
Hike Notes 110: Rodeo Lagoon Loop – Marin Headlands

Moving by Instinct
            The longer shelter in place goes, the harder to remember what day of the week it is, much less have a sense of the direction we’re going, whether big picture or small.
            Concentrating on familiar tasks takes more time and effort than normal. Uncertainty about disease and social unrest has the world feeling discombobulated.
            The need for routine, engagement in facilitated activities, and interaction with familiar people and places makes this an especially tough time for people like my son on the autism spectrum.
            Trying to complete work projects despite my son’s need for 24/7 supervision is hard (he’s edgy enough that we hear him ambling around the house rearranging objects at 2 AM), but daily walk breaks with him are a highlight.
            Some old favorite areas are opening up. This week we found ourselves at a site that has a return loop option through a vague, faded patchwork of paths. For some reason, we hadn’t taken those hard-to-see back trails in a couple of years.
            For some on the autism spectrum, processing information in language, and executive functioning skills that require thinking in strategic layers, are not strong points. Our son often relies on instincts—or whatever name you choose for sensibilities that go beyond the standard five senses—as well as exceptional visual and sound memory. The upside is that he remembers where the car is parked better than we do sometimes. The downside is that the “fight or flight” instinct operates on a hairpin trigger.
            Our last walk on those back paths being so long ago, I decided to let Sean lead the way back, watching to see if he’d take the easy direct return trail, or the meandering, obscure paths most people would have no idea to look for.
            He headed toward the hard-to-find paths. Staying silent (an accomplishment for me), I let him walk a few yards ahead. Silently and steadily, he navigated every turn correctly, naturally finding a key spot that even I miss sometimes.
            Watching him cut through the brush to instinctively, confidently wend his way back to the trailhead, I felt an unexpected sense of pride. That’s MY son, moving by instinct on hidden trails.
            Despite the foggy confusion, our underlying instincts are still here. A quiet walk on a back path helps us tap into ours. May you find opportunities to recognize your own instinctive abilities.
            This week’s Hike Notes are from the archives, Rockaway Beach via Calera Creek Path. This mostly paved walk leads to stunning views from Pacifica’s Rockaway Beach, with the opportunity to be a little more adventurous on the return trip.
            The long list of Hikes can be found on the Quick View Hike List and on the main Hikes page. All past Insights posts can also be viewed in the Insights/Hike Update News archives.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Please feel free to share.
This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives:
(Original Hike Notes 44): Rockaway Beach via Calera Creek Path

Around the Corner
            Just when life looks calm, things can blow up unexpectedly. We might experience a personal loss of a loved one or job. We may struggle on a global scale with a pandemic or social turmoil. We might be hit on both levels simultaneously.
            Yet when life feels like a series of disasters with no bright spots in view, something uplifting appears around the next corner.
            Families with members on the autism spectrum deal with unpredictability on a day to day, if not minute to minute basis. Ranging from the sudden onset of seizures for some, to more mundane issues like all the shampoo, toilet paper, and toothbrushes disappearing from the bathroom to be systematically arranged in another part of the house, “bad surprises” can be life threatening or just aggravating.
            On the flip side, hearing a new word, or receiving a smile with eye contact and a hug can be joyful surprises.
            Though “expecting the unexpected” doesn’t make hard times easier, remembering that good things might be around the corner helps us carry on. 
            Appreciate unanticipated good fortune and kindness. Gratitude is a surprising salve for anxiety.
            Keep putting one foot forward.
            This week’s Hike Notes bring readers to the Lyon Street Steps – San Francisco Stair Walk, one of San Francisco’s many stunning stairway walks that offer both stunning views and a good cardio workout.
            The long list of Hikes can be found on the Quick View Hike List and on the main Hikes page. All past Insights posts can also be viewed in the Insights/Hike Update News archives.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Please feel free to share.
New this week:
Hike Notes 109: Lyon Street Steps – San Francisco Stair Walk

Seeing Past
            Our senses are remarkably capable of tuning out extraneous “noise” that makes sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and physical stimuli seem like a jumbled mess.
            We focus like a laser on the smell of pumpkin pie, even with a dozen other aromas in the air.
            We gaze at a painting and the surrounding visuals fade from sight. We distinguish the sound of our own child’s voice from those of twenty kids at the playground.
            One brightly flavored food item can cleanse the palate of the half dozen other tastes in our mouth. The feeling of a hug can transcend the pain of an injury, at least for a moment.
            What if these five senses and beyond—including our complex, multilayered senses that deal with stress and trauma—are pummeled from all sides simultaneously? How can we find focus?
            Tapping into our instinctive ability to hone in on a particular point helps us get through confusing, alarming times.
            The turmoil of political chaos, a pandemic, and social unrest combined make for an intense, multi-level attack on our sensory intake system.
            Pause and breathe. Stand still and look beyond the tangled branches. Past the confusing clutter, find something to look toward with optimism. Hope and clarity are always floating around us, they’re just hard to see sometimes.
            This week’s Hike Notes are from the archives, Lands End Lookout to Mile Rock Beach. Lands End Trail offers dramatic views, fog or sunshine, with various views of the Golden Gate Bridge through the trees.
            The long list of Hikes can be found on the Quick View Hike List and on the main Hikes page. All past Insights posts can also be viewed in the Insights/Hike Update News archives.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Please feel free to share.
This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives:
(Original Hike Notes 3): Lands End Lookout to Mile Rock Beach