The View from the Window
Instead of photographing hiking trails this past weekend, I made a long-delayed visit to the Upstate New York home I grew up in. I was visiting my dad, the person who taught my brothers and me how to swim, hike, set up a campsite, chop wood, and build a fire. There was no such thing as a marked trail to follow around our house. Dad showed us how to follow natural paths that wended through nearby fields, forests and creeks. My father’s mobility now limited, we shared much of our visit time talking and watching movies. Behind the TV is a large picture window featuring a familiar view from my childhood: deep green trees looming in the foreground against a bright blue sky and high white clouds in the background. “I’ve enjoyed the view out this window all these years, but I appreciate it more and more each day,” my father said out of the blue. “One summer, for whatever reason, there were thousands of fireflies, more than I’ve ever seen, glowing past the window. It was magical.” We can find an uplifting bit of nature without going far: a sunset view from a window, a flower growing in an unexpected corner, a ladybug landing on a shirtsleeve. Outdoor time can increase health and happiness for all of us, regardless of how we engage with it. My autistic son needs communication and logistical support, but he has no trouble climbing steep, rocky trails. For some nature lovers, physical restrictions require choosing flat trails without rocks or roots to trip over. Since I was off my hiking routine this week, I’m sharing a new World Walk contributed by fellow nature walks enthusiast Marjorie Turner Hollman, a kindred spirit who shares East Coast walks geared for those who need gentler trails. (See her website https://marjorieturner.com and her series of Easy Walks books.) Her new World Walks share is about Acadia National Park, Mt Desert and Schoodic Peninsula, an area offering many trails in Maine’s famous Acadia National Park. Whether largely housebound, requiring extra guidance, or navigating the outdoors using supportive equipment, we can all find a way to enjoy nature. Keep putting one foot forward, even if it’s by leaning forward in a chair to get a better view out a picture window! Do you have a favorite walk? Share with readers in World Walks! Two or three sentences and photos allow other readers to share your special hike. See the World Walks link for how to submit your walk to share. It’s easy! This week’s featured hike contributed from a reader: (World Walks): Acadia National Park, Mt Desert and Schoodic Peninsula Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes and photo galleries via the main Hikes page or the Hike Search by Area (was Quick View Hike List) page. Click World Walks to see or share favorite walks from readers! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism
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Old Barn Charm
The big red barn and silo of the farm across from the house I grew up in remain iconic images in my mind. The stark silhouette of the barn against a blue sky brought a sense of calm. When we drove further into farm country to my grandmother’s house, there were more barns to gaze at, the more weatherworn, the more charming. The long-abandoned barn in the field past the stone fence behind our house, with walls leaning precariously one way and another, was the most entrancing of all. Grayed lumber was adorned by rusty hinges and latches, and plants grew up through the floor. There was a haunting sense of allure, especially when my dad chased my brothers and I around the barn playing werewolf. Nothing beats that. Raising my sons in a city meant they did not grow up in view of corn fields and barns, other than on visits back east. What a treat when a friend told us about a trail not far from Half Moon Bay’s beaches that leads to an old ranch site, complete with an enchanting barn and rusty tractors artfully dotted like sculptures. Whether walking somewhere new or reminiscing about trails from the past, may we all enjoy the less obvious objects of beauty around us. This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Burleigh Murray Ranch Trail, a relatively flat walk featuring hillside views and some large old eucalyptus trees on the way to a photogenic old ranch site. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 128): Burleigh Murray Ranch Trail Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes and photo galleries via the main Hikes page or the Hike Search by Area (was Quick View Hike List) page. Click World Walks to see or share favorite walks from readers! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism Summertime
My Upstate New York childhood autumns were highlighted by breathtaking red, orange and yellow October leaves, intoxicatingly crisp air, and the smell of grass and hay fading from their summer glory. Ranking a close second after my beloved autumn was winter, with pristine white snow and the bite of subzero temperatures bringing a mental and physical clarity I’ve only experienced in the cold. Spring ranked third, with daffodils pushing up through patches of snow, stubborn creek ice melting, and red-winged blackbirds returning. In fourth place came summer. As school ended, anticipating creeks to explore, ice cream stands to visit, and swimming holes to dive into was exciting for about a day and a half, but then I’d feel antsy without a regular routine. Living near the beach in San Francisco, our seasonal ebbs and flows are less dramatic. We have chilly foggy days, humid foggy days, cool sunny days, rainy days (when we’re lucky in these drought times), and once in a while, a really hot day that feels like the best summer days from my childhood walking barefoot along the edge of an Adirondack lake. Here my barefoot walks are on beaches along the Pacific Ocean. Though many of us fog folk enjoy the first day of a heat wave, we tolerate the second, and are begging for the fog to come back by day three. Still somehow, that old sense of summer freedom and adventure wells up when temperatures first rise. A walk where the water meets the sand, sand dollars and polished stones interspersed with seaweed in artful patterns, sounds like the perfect outing on those days. May we all keep putting one foot forward, with an occasional chance to leave footprints in wet sand. This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Ocean Beach – South End, a wide stretch of beach at the western edge of San Francisco that offers long walks and views of ships heading for San Francisco Bay. This week’s Hike Notes from the Archives: (Original Hike Notes 92): Ocean Beach – South End Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes and photo galleries via the main Hikes page or the Hike Search by Area (was Quick View Hike List) page. Click World Walks to see or share favorite walks from readers! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism The Long Haul
I started HikingAutism.com in March of 2018. It is a labor of love. I find time to create new posts each week in addition to work and special needs mom duties because it highlights a joyful part of helping my younger son who is severely challenged by autism. If no one else read the posts or looked at the photos, I’d still create them, because it lifts my heart, but hearing from readers that they felt uplifted by an Insights post, had their breath taken away by a nature photo, or used a Hikes description to try walking in a new place means the world to me. Caring for a family member with extra challenges involves lifelong devotion, and creating something meaningful to share with others is another lifelong goal. When I reached 100 hike posts on HikingAutism, I celebrated with readers. The 150 hike mark snuck past me amidst work deadlines and caregiving with less support available since the pandemic, so this week I’m celebrating reaching the 160 hike mark! In addition to my Northern California hikes, readers have shared walks from afar in the World Walks section, so HikingAutism currently offers 175 hikes for readers to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who has ever taken a moment to read a weekly Insights post, read about a new hike, or check out other parts of the site. Thanks for sharing trail time via cyberspace up to now, and we’ll keep putting one foot forward together! This week’s Hike Notes, Slide Ranch and Tide Pool Walk, introduces readers to a special place that features goats, ducks, and chickens as well as a lovely trail leading to tide pools and stunning ocean views. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area (was Quick View Hike List) page. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. 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! Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism New this week: Hike Notes 160: Slide Ranch and Tide Pool Walk |
Lisa LouisSharing insights and hiking highlights (Hikes, Hike Search by Area) from the special needs caregiver front in San Francisco. Archives
February 2025
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