Stumbling Onto Things As We Go Along
            After graduating from college at 20, I worked several months to earn plane fare to Japan and a few months’ living expenses. I arrived in Kyoto at age 21 and stayed for five and a half years.
            Though many aspects of Japanese society are rigid and controlled, I learned some things about loosening up. A favorite Japanese term is ikiataribattari, which loosely translated, means doing things hit or miss, haphazardly, or trusting things to chance. It’s often used when we want to go out but don’t have a set destination. “Let’s just head out and wander, and see what we stumble onto that catches our interest.”
            When heading out for a hike with my autistic son and his hiking buddy helper, we don’t always have a plan set in stone. Even if we did, traffic, weather conditions, and energy levels don’t always cooperate.
            We jump in the car, head across the Golden Gate Bridge, and determine a destination as we go along. If we miss an exit while debating where to go, there are more options further up the highway.
            Sometimes you find happy new places by just stumbling along. This week’s Hike Notes, Stafford Lake Nature Walk, take us to one of those unexpected destinations. The Terwilliger Nature Trail in Novato is an easy, pleasant hike in the rolling hills of Marin that is great even for beginners.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story.
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 73: Stafford Lake Nature Walk

Unexpected Angels
            Over the course of a lifetime, each of us will be touched by the generous spirit of others.
            Family and friends are often the first line of support when we hit bumps in life: an illness in the family, loss of a job, a home, a loved one.
            And how many heartfelt stories have we heard of a teacher, a nurse, or a caring neighbor changing a person’s life through kindness given above and beyond the call of duty?
            Key uplifting life moments may spark from surprising places. A casual acquaintance steps up to help when hearing of someone’s struggle. A stranger on the street sees a person in peril and takes action. A social media contact reaches out to someone showing signs of trouble.
            One of our family’s unexpected angels was our son’s “autism whisperer” David (In Memory and Thanks), whose brief time on earth left the legacy of our son’s ability to get out in the world, and my wish to share that positive spirit with others.
            We are grateful for the other “angels” who have stepped up and continued to walk by our side. The unanticipated kindness of strangers continues to surprise us.
            Never underestimate the power of goodness in the human spirit.
            When graced by the goodwill of others, find a moment to express gratitude. If given the opportunity, be that comforting angel for someone in need.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Telegraph Hill Stair Walk, takes readers on one of the many stunning stairway walks in San Francisco. 
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story.
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 72: Telegraph Hill Stair Walk

Through Portals
            I love how the sci-fi/fantasy genre conveniently solves plot problems by having a spaceship, aliens, or struggling heroes suddenly find an all-powerful portal to pass through. After an hour or two of escalating trauma, everything magically works out. A wormhole in space transports the villains to hell, or the good guys to safety and love in glowing sunset.
            Passing through portals of one type or another is part of life for everyone. We pass through countless passageways relating to time, space, physical and emotional growth. Though not as dramatic as a sci-fi blockbuster movie ending, the portals of our everyday lives are important to note.
            For a person like my severely autistic son, self-reflection on life passages may not come easily. I don’t really know. It’s hard to formulate a question that he understands. It’s even harder for him to find language to articulate an answer.
            I do know that he is powerfully affected by passing through thresholds. In the “bad old days” when we were nearly housebound (see the Home page), just transitioning from under his blanket to out of his bed, or from the front door to our porch, felt almost impossible for him. Even contrasting light and shadows became force fields that froze my son in his tracks. Loud sounds—or the sudden absence of sound—did the same.
            Now I watch my son hike ahead on a trail, passing from a shady tree tunnel to a wide open hilltop with barely a hesitation. This increased threshold crossing ability is evidence of the countless sensory processing and development portals he has traversed, allowing him—and the rest of us in the family—to lead a freer life than we used to.
            Tough challenges still abound, but we look forward to new discoveries as we continue passing through portals on our trail.
            This week’s Hike Notes about Pulgas Ridge introduce one of the many wonderful open space preserves on the peninsula south of San Francisco. 
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story.
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 71: Pulgas Ridge

Light At the End of the Tunnel
            One of my favorite spots in the whole world is a few minutes’ walk from my house. (This from an old international traveler.) The tunnel cave at the Sutro Bath ruins in San Francisco is dark, wet, and has uneven footing over slick rock, puddles, and sand. The rocks at the far end are even more slippery as you step to the edge for the rough, rocky view to the crashing waves past the remnants of an old railway structure. Signs warn us not to venture out on the treacherous rocks. Rescues are not easy here.
            Two side viewing holes open toward the sea midway through the tunnel. You can’t see the horizon, just the ebbing and flowing of waves. Crashing and flowing into the mini-cavern we view from the tunnel path, the waves move at the mercy of the tides.
            No crash or flow is the same. Each wave has a different visual effect. Sound ranges from quiet swooshes to eardrum-reverberating booms. The constant change that nature brings, and that I can’t control, stills my fluttering mind.
            And there is the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel.” Like the waves that crash in through those side cave openings in the Sutro Bath tunnel, the challenges we face constantly change. Solutions that arise change as well. There is no fixed, single light at the end of the tunnel. Thankful for the positive openings that appear before us, we understand that we will be challenged again, and that another tunnel light will again lead us onto something better.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Sutro Baths, introduces the ruins of San Francisco’s famed Sutro Baths, opened to the public in 1896 by San Francisco Mayor Adolf Sutro. An iconic place that once drew thousands for indoor swimming in a structure that housed seven swimming pools, museum exhibits featuring Egyptian mummies, and tropical plants, it was destroyed by fire in the 1960s and now stands as a stunning gateway view to the Pacific.
            Please feel free to share. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photos! Check the Home page for the broader background story.
            The list of hikes is getting long! Please check the Quick View Hike List or scroll down the main Hikes page to see the current list of hike notes.
New this week:
Hike Notes 70: Sutro Baths