Love Where You Live
            Wherever we live, whether it’s a rural area, a medium sized town, or a huge metropolitan region, there will be ups and downs over the years.
            Local industries that have sustained a city for decades may go bust. With the passing of time, something new that supports the community may take its place.
            The quality of schools may go up and down with economic and social changes. Crime rates may go up and then back down again.
            Issues like homelessness can rise anywhere when circumstances strike individuals and broader society harshly enough.
            Land and structures we love may be ravaged by fire, storms, or earthquakes. With time, trees grow again, people build again.
            If we love a place, it helps to remember why we loved it, especially in challenging times. Do we abandon loved ones when things get difficult for them? Hopefully not in most cases. The places we live need care through tough times, too.
            I love San Francisco. This city has had its share of ups and downs over the years, like every other city. I still love the inherent good nature and quirkiness of its residents, and the beauty it has as a city, both by the natural scenery it is woven into, and by many cultural structures and institutions.
            All it takes is a stroll through one of San Francisco’s many unique neighborhoods, a walk on one of its beaches or hiking trails, or a visit to a museum, concert venue or restaurant to remember why I fell in love with it years ago. 
            This week’s Hike Notes, Macondray Lane-San Francisco City Walk, introduces readers to one of San Francisco’s charming pedestrian lanes on Russian Hill. The hidden-treasure magic of this tiny lane on one of San Francisco’s famous hills with its glorious views of San Francisco Bay—the jewel of Alcatraz highlighting the water—is the kind of thing that makes visitors fall in love.
            What are the treasured spaces where you live? May we all remember and appreciate the things we love about the places we live. Keep putting one foot forward!
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. 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. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, Twitter at @HikingAutism, Instagram at lisalouis777, and Bluesky @hikingautism.bsky.social
 
New this week:
Hike Notes 225: Macondray Lane-San Francisco City Walk

Spooked by the Unfamiliar
            It’s almost Halloween. Who doesn’t love a ghost story?
            I’ve written several times about feeling spooked on a hiking trail, but I’ve had those hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck tingle moments indoors as well.
            The challenges of autism make it hard for our younger son and us as a family to do overnight trips, but on rare occasions we manage to go somewhere within a four- or five-hour drive and spend a night or two.
            We heard about the wild beauty of the Mendocino Coast countless times over the years. We also heard about locations along the coast where it is possible to stay overnight at a lighthouse. When we finally visited Mendocino, fate drew us to the head lightkeeper’s house as our weekend accommodation.
            Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is beautiful, and is set on a stunning, rough bit of coastline. The lightkeeper’s house is a short distance from the actual lighthouse, and the sound of waves crashing remind visitors of their proximity to the ocean all through the night.
            The lightkeeper’s house combines the charm of the old building with decorative items reflecting the era when lighthouse keepers actually lived there with modern updates such as fresh paint and fresh carpets for guest comfort.
            Despite the “freshening up” for modern times, when I had to walk alone at night down the carpeted steps from the bedrooms on the second floor to fetch something from the kitchen, I sensed the presence of people who had walked those stairs before. It wasn’t just at night. When everyone else was still quiet in bed in the morning, I walked down those stairs alone to the main floor and felt that same hovering sense of residents from long ago.
            It wasn’t a threatening feeling, but it wasn’t exactly a happy, light feeling, either. We were only there for two nights, so it was easy enough to dismiss that uneasy feeling as we packed up to leave.
            Maybe it was just that we were staying in a different house that was unfamiliar. This past week I wrote a piece about how people can feel scared of places or people that seem “different,” and that sometimes includes people with disabilities.
            The title of the new essay is “My Own Boo Radley,” a title I’ve had in my head for years. Thanks to the Renaissance Garden Guy for featuring my fifth guest piece on the site. The link to read “My Own Boo Radley” is in the comments below. Feel free to share the story link, leave comments on the Renaissance Garden Guy page, or here on Facebook.
            Have you ever felt spooked in a house or building? Did you ever hear a ghost story about a place and then felt something strange there? Hopefully any ghosts you’ve bumped into have been friendly! Keep putting one foot forward!
            This week’s Hike Notes from the archives, Point Cabrillo Lighthouse-Mendocino, takes readers to a historic lighthouse on the wild and scenic Mendocino Coast, and the lightkeeper’s house where we stayed.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. 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. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, Twitter at @HikingAutism, Instagram at lisalouis777, and Bluesky @hikingautism.bsky.social
 
This week’s hike from the archives:
Hike Notes 138: Point Cabrillo Lighthouse-Mendocino

Golden Glow of Memory
            A friend texted me this week to say she was traveling through Western New York State, featuring its renowned autumn leave colors, and was thinking of me.
            It means a great deal to me that people who know I’m from Upstate New York—and how much I love the natural beauty I grew up in—think of me when they visit.
            The golden glow created by autumn light on yellow, orange and red maple leaves is always breathtaking. My favorite seasons, in order, are autumn, winter, spring and summer. The magical light and fresh chill of autumn air in the northeast is intoxicating, and I miss it.
            We have luminous natural lighting effects here in Northern California as well, though created from different trees and terrain. 
            One hike in Marin filled me with that poignant feeling of autumn radiance, though the light was not shining on maple trees. The tunnel of trees we were passing through intertwined with the afternoon light, creating a golden haze that felt like a dream.
            What is your favorite season? What images bring a sense of nostalgia? Open your heart to those seasonal sensory memories, and keep putting one foot forward!
            This week’s Hike Notes from the archives, Blithedale Summit from Summit Drive, leads readers on lovely tree tunnel trails past sculptural madrone and live oak trees, with views of the bay from one angle and the East Peak of Mt. Tam from another.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. 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. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, Twitter at @HikingAutism, Instagram at lisalouis777, and Bluesky @hikingautism.bsky.social
 
This week’s hike from the archives:
Hike Notes 168 : Blithedale Summit from Summit Drive

Losing Loved Ones
            A few days ago, I found out that a dear friend had passed away. Though not totally unexpected, it was still a shock to the system.
            Over many years, starting with me as a customer at her bakery, and continuing over the years as she moved far away and then close again, we chatted and e-mailed about parallel challenges in life: the ups and downs of business and finances, worries about family and the world, and health challenges big and small for ourselves and loved ones.
            When one of my Insights posts was about something I thought might especially strike a chord with her, I shared it. She’d always reply that she read my posts every week and had already read the one I was sending.
            Her health challenge took her away too young. I question why bad things happen to good people. 
            This past Sunday, feeling heavy hearted, I couldn’t think where to take my autistic son for our hike. Then it hit me that a visit to the beach where we had a small memorial for my mom a couple of years ago might capture the spirit of the day.
            We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin. Distracted with grief, I took a wrong turn. The place we ended up was coincidentally the first site I’d thought to visit as a solace for the loss of my friend. We walked out to a bluff with a coastal view of my mom’s memorial spot in one direction and Point Bonita Lighthouse in the other.
            I thought of my friend, and of my mom, who passed away within a few months of my beloved dad. On our quiet drive home, our classical music station played Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique, one of the piano pieces my dad used to play after my brothers and I went to bed when we were kids. Listening to all three movements, I realized that I still remember every note from repeatedly hearing the notes waft upstairs from the living room to my bedroom.
            Hearing those notes made me feel like I was with my dad. Being near my mom’s memorial site reminded me of her. Some things will make me feel my friend is still here in spirit: pumpkin scones, exquisite holiday cookies, the knitted hand warmers she made that I wear on cold days at my desk.
            Wendy, your spirit weathered rough waves like those crashing at the lighthouse in this photo. I will remember you when I look at the sunset, glowing behind the Farallon Islands, or shimmering on our shared San Francisco cityscape. Thank you, friend, for the goodness you shared.
            I looked back at Point Bonita Lighthouse as the archive hike for photos shared here, and saw that the accompanying Insights post was about how the essence of our loved ones remains. I share that post again below in honor of Wendy, whose essence I know is still here.
 
Originally posted in May of 2018:
 
The Essence Remains
            What happens when our loved ones are gone? By “gone,” I mean in the mortal sense. Of no longer being here physically.
            One of my favorite classes in college was about religion and death. What an array of beliefs there are. About guiding the dying on their way out. About those left behind dealing with their grief. About how to handle the physical remains of those who have passed.
            I have no solid answers for anyone. My heart is strengthened, however, by learning how others process the absence of those they shared life with.
            One thing I do know for myself: The essence of a person remains.
            It can be thick in the air when a person is first gone. It can waft back in waves over years, when one least expects it.
            When a person’s essence sweeps up to touch us again, it may not happen on the anniversary date of their loss. Or a birthday, or a holiday.
            The tangible sense of a loved one may appear in quiet, unanticipated moments. Triggered by a smell or sound. Reverberating in a familiar object or patch of scenery that flashes at just the right moment and angle.
            How thankful I am for those unexpected visceral memories, filling me with the sense of a missing companion.
            The life to death transition is sometimes expressed as a bridge, a crossing from one realm to another.
 
            This week’s Hike Notes from the archives, Point Bonita Lighthouse, has its own narrow, shaky bridge leading to a wonderful historic lighthouse. This is a stunning area to visit, whether you’re there in the narrow time frame allowing access to the lighthouse, or show up any old time to walk around the surrounding area.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries.
            If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. 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. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, Twitter at @HikingAutism, Instagram at lisalouis777, and Bluesky @hikingautism.bsky.social
 
This week’s hike from the archives:
Hike Notes 13: Point Bonita Lighthouse