Waiting for That Special Moment
            “This shirt was expensive, but I just had to have it. I’ll save it for a special occasion.”
            “These dishes were a treasured gift from my grandma. I’m waiting for a really meaningful event to use them.”
            “This top-of-the-line power tool was a big investment. I’ll only use it for really important projects.”
            Two months, two years, even twenty years later, the shirt hangs unused in the closet, grandma’s dinner set is hidden in the back of the “special dishes” cupboard, and the expensive tool is collecting dust in the garage behind piles of clutter.
            Where does the time go? When is the special occasion, the meaningful event, the important project?
            I’ve seen poignant messages about this countless times. The older I get, the more strongly it rings true.
            Life brings surprises. We can’t know how many chances we’ll have to see people we love, when we’ll have the health or wealth to travel, or how many opportunities we’ll have to enjoy life with a sense of freedom and abandon.
            Wear those special earrings. Read that book you’ve been saving as a treat. Wear the cool sneakers you saved up for. Drink the extravagant tea or wine you’ve been saving. Wear that vintage jacket your uncle passed down to you.
            Hiking destinations with cool names become these “save it for a special day” items for me. (How cool must a place called “Pirate’s Cove” be?) Hidden Lake was on my “badass hike name” list. It waited longer on my list of hikes to post on HikingAutism than it did on my hike wish list, but here it is.
            Call that old friend you’ve been meaning to call.
            Tell a loved one that you love them.
            Keep putting one foot forward.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Hidden Lake from Lake Lagunitas, takes readers on a lovely hike from one of the treasures of the Mt. Tam Watershed through redwoods, high ridge views, and over wooden footbridges to the quiet pond that is Hidden Lake.
            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.
            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 144: Hidden Lake from Lake Lagunitas

Counting Steps
            In elementary school, my older son felt overwhelmed when he looked at a page with a hundred math problems on it. He could handle the logic of an individual math problem, but when looking at the entire page filled with numbers, his brain short-circuited and he froze up.
            Life’s struggles can feel that way. If we looked at all of the difficult things in front of us, we might not bother to get up in the morning.
            Special needs parents are hit hard by this. The prospect of just getting through one day sometimes feels like the densely inked math page. Trying to picture how to help a child with huge challenges over a lifetime can be paralyzing. If we thought that far ahead, we might feel like we can’t face the next week, month, or year.
           But we do face each day and week because we take things step by step. Step 1: Did we avoid a sensory meltdown? Step 2: Did we manage to get our child to eat something healthy? Step 3: Did we get to the day’s destination safely? Lather, rinse, repeat, using countless variables.
            I also used to feel math anxiety as a student. I shared with my son that if you block out everything but one individual problem at a time, it’s easier to digest. We can also break down each complex math problem into doable steps.
            Everyone will face overwhelming difficulties in life at some point. The ability to break tough stretches into digestible bites and move forward in steps is a crucial survival tool. Counting how far we’ve made it through our checklist of steps encourages us to keep going.
            It’s also fine to stop and rest between steps, recharging and moving again when we’re ready. May we all remember to stop and enjoy the view as we go along, and keep putting one foot forward!
            Dramatic views of Northern California lighthouses came to mind when I looked at the photo of the iconic Happisburgh Lighthouse in this week’s World Walks from England, Happisburgh Beach.
            Third in a series of World Walks contributions from the Norfolk area of England, Happisburgh Beach is famous not only for its lighthouse, but also as an amazing fossil collection site.
            This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Point Reyes Lighthouse. This Point Reyes site is known for having 313 steps leading to an iconic Fresnel lens lighthouse in a stunning setting.
            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 Hike Notes from the Archives:
(Original Hike Notes 99): Point Reyes Lighthouse
 
            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.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism

Quirky Bird
            “He’s a bit of an odd duck,” people say about those who don’t quite fit into their idea of normal.
            For some reason, the phrase “quirky bird” comes to me more often than “odd duck.” I find myself using “quirky” as a friendly way to describe the many people I know who are a bit off track from what society considers to be typical.
            If someone else says I’m a little quirky, I embrace it with a smile. I’ve never wanted to feel like I’m marching to the same drummer as everyone else.
            When it comes to the more intense differences in behavior that pop up with someone like my younger son who is severely autistic, “a bit off track” or “a little different” doesn’t capture the extreme differences others might notice.
            Not being able to communicate easily, and sensing the world differently from most people leads to some unusual behavior. He changes shirts three times along a hiking trail (can’t bear the feeling of sweat), loudly yells requests rather than saying them quietly (due to difficulty regulating voice volume, and limited vocabulary), and moves in sudden, unexpected bursts (due to an always overflowing supply of compulsive impulses).
            Quirky as he and we may be, we enjoy views of unique, interesting scenery and creatures along the paths we take. Though he occasionally does something cringeworthy enough to have people briefly staring, our autistic son is a loving, good person who we are grateful to have the opportunity to take out in the world.
            Like the story of The Ugly Duckling, sometimes the “odd duck” has beautiful swan qualities that others can’t quite see yet.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Sausalito Stroll from the Bay Model, leads readers along the bayside streets of Sausalito, with kayaks and sailboats highlighting views of Angel Island, the East Bay hills, and the San Francisco skyline.
            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.
            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 143: Sausalito Stroll from the Bay Model

The Balance of Beauty and Danger
            By the end of summer, many of the hills in Northern California are toasted to a light gold, the parching dry summer bleaching the green hills of spring to a pale beauty.
            Set against a stark blue sky, there is something other-worldly about the hills, flaxen curves reminiscent of sand dunes or ocean waves made of grass.
            Like the deadly heat emanating from desert sand or the treacherous undertows of ocean currents, our beautiful golden hills in California belie the perils of fire. “Fire season” should not be added to our standards of spring, summer, fall and winter, but devastating wildfires have become annual phenomena.
            Nature interweaves danger with powerful beauty, but balancing this paradox is a necessity. We learn to walk through life balancing love and loss, hope and despair, joy and sadness.
            Waves of grass, rolling dunes, and constantly moving wave patterns are some of nature’s countless gifts, which we learn to appreciate even more as we walk through life’s challenges.
            The bleached-blonde hills of California came to mind when I saw the photos for this week’s World Walks from England, Sheringham Country Park.
            Second in a series of World Walks contributions from the Norfolk area of England, Sheringham Country Park features its own golden grass scenery, offering views of the sea as well as woodsy paths.
            This week’s HikingAutism Hike Notes from the archives is Loma Alta-Smith Ridge, a stellar example of the beautiful golden hills that are a visual highlight of California’s dry season.
            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 Hike Notes from the Archives:
(Original Hike Notes 28): Loma Alta-Smith Ridge
 
            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.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism

Brothers Walking
            “My drawers are empty again. Has anyone seen my pants?” our older son has said in frustration countless times.
            Autistic younger son Sean loves nothing more than rearranging everything in our house. Drawers of neatly folded shirts, pants and underwear are transformed into overstuffed spaces that get jammed closed, often in someone else’s dresser drawers.
            “I’m keeping my clothes in the office in plastic bins,” our older son declared one day, tired of having his chest of drawers constantly raided and emptied.
            Some things get squirreled away into the oddest places.
            “Has anyone seen the TV remote control?” After the twentieth day-long search to find the remote, we started hiding it, a tough task in a house where our compulsive searcher-and-mover gets into everything.
            Sean moving large objects of furniture on a daily basis means our poor hardwood floors have taken a beating.
            One day we found that he’d opened various vitamin containers and mixed the contents. All those went in the discard pile, and we found a new secure place to keep medicines.
            Despite his little brother’s frustrating behavior, our older son still reaches for Sean’s hand when we go hiking.
            His move to England for a work assignment has been looming, but paperwork delays have given us all a few extra weeks together.
            Every hike, I try to stifle the thought, “Is this the last time he’ll be on this walk with us?”
            I watch him lead his little brother hand-in-hand, and hope that face-to-face screen time from afar will give Sean some sense that his big brother is still here in the world.
            In the meantime, we will enjoy the handful of family walks left before he goes. We’ll keep hiking when he’s gone.
            Sean will just have to reach for someone else’s hand.
            And as we encourage everyone else, we will keep putting one foot forward.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Jug Handle Headlands Loop -Mendocino, introduces an easy half-mile loop walk along the bluffs at Jug Handle State Natural Reserve in Mendocino.
            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.
            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 142: Jug Handle Headlands Loop-Mendocino

Familiar Paths
            Walking along a trail for the first time, I’m sometimes struck with an uncanny sense that I’ve been along that path before. The way the path curves, the feeling of the trees lining the way, the steepness of an incline, the way old roots have risen into the footpath. Each trail has its own undefinable essence, but that essence sometimes reverberates in other trails.
            A path in Point Reyes reminds me of a trail in the Marin Headlands which reminds me of a favorite walk in San Francisco, which then again reminds me of a trail in Pacifica. Feeling you know some essential part of a new trail just by its ambience is reassuring.
            The crossover doesn’t stop with the trails I love in Northern California. Sometimes I get this instinctive feeling about a trail from my childhood in the Adirondack foothills. The precariously leaning barn at previous Hike Notes Burleigh Murray Ranch Trail reminded me of the fallen down barns in the farmland behind my childhood home, where my brothers and I used to amble in winter, spring, summer and fall.
            My oldest brother, who lives in a scenic part of England, has sent in a series of World Walks contributions. We live halfway around the world now, but it’s nice to imagine my brother walking on peaceful trails in England with his beagles, the same kind of dog we walked with in the back fields as kids. The first highlighted share from his favorite walks in England is Bacton Wood.
            This week’s HikingAutism archives Hike Notes features Burleigh Murray Ranch Trail, which not only reminds me of the farmland where I grew up, but also features paths I was reminded of as I looked at trail photos in the Bacton Wood World Walks.
            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 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.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism

Hanging by a Thread
            On a visit to the Mendocino Coast, we walked through a cemetery to find the path to a famed sixty-foot deep hole in the forest. Walking up to the fenced edge of the Little River Blowhole, I felt a dash of vertigo looking at the steep drop to the cave opening and ocean waves below.
            The next most jarring visual element was the image of large trees clinging to the edge of the erosion line. Grand trees held their proud vertical stance despite their precarious grip on the soil.
            The forces of nature will eventually topple these trees down into the depths of the blowhole. Their trunk-skeletons in the wet sand below become artifacts of geological history.
            But for a very long time, perhaps many years, the long-cultivated roots that helped these trees grow to maturity will keep them standing. It is astounding how long a living creature, plant or animal, can hold on to functional life despite the most challenging of circumstances.
            Unlike trees, as part of the animal world, we humans have the option to move from immediate threat sites. We can’t dodge danger entirely, and will eventually reach a final resting place, but we can make the most of both strong roots and mobility.
            Cultivating our roots—deep human connections, good health, engaging in meaningful activities—can make the times when we’re hanging by a thread a little less scary. Humans can survive remarkably challenging times, sometimes just dodging peril when the last thread of a root was about to break.
            In recent tumultuous times, it may feel collectively like we’re hanging by a thread over impending disaster.
            Take heart in making it this far. Reach out to someone who needs encouragement.
            Cultivate the things that make you stronger, and keep putting one foot forward.
            This week’s Hike Notes, Little River Blowhole-Mendocino, takes readers on a short walk around a dramatic natural phenomenon tucked behind a small cemetery on the Mendocino Coast.
            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.
            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 141: Little River Blowhole-Mendocino

Calming Waters
            Pummeled by the news in recent times, “tumultuous times” or “overwhelming challenges” is the first theme that comes to mind week after week. Individually and collectively, people around the world have taken a battering on all fronts: emotionally, physically, environmentally, politically, and on the health front.
            The term “doom scrolling” was coined in recent years, an apt description for those of us who find ourselves clicking the news headlines just one more time to see if there’s something important happening on all the dark fronts we’re following.
            At this point, it’s not a matter of looking to find the bad news. Any random change of the channel or headline view seems to be overflowing with disheartening stories, even as we hope to find something bright and hopeful.
            Hope is the magic word here. We can’t give up on the belief in goodness in the world, of which there is plenty. It just doesn’t make the headlines like bad things do.
            Take a break from the news and soak up a beautiful view when you can. A view of a calm lake or pond, a favorite forest view, a distant horizon sunset, the flowers in your yard or along your street, all of these can give us a chance to slow down our spinning minds and just take a deep breath.
            If it’s not possible to be outdoors when world news anxiety and depression starts to sneak up, catch a calming view from nature photos in a book, online images, or nature videos. Viewing calming images can actually make your breathing slow and clear disturbing clutter from your mind.
This week’s Hike Notes are from the HikingAutism archives, Bon Tempe Lake Loop. I find a sense of calm at all the lakes in the Marin Watershed, but Bon Tempe Lake is a stunner from all angles.
            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 Hike Notes from the Archives:
(Original Hike Notes 10): Bon Tempe Lake Loop
 
            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.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism

Walking On the Edge
            Some creatures walk along steep cliffs without a hint of anxiety. Nature may offer them a superb sense of balance, highly motivating reasons for roaming along bluff edges, or wings to fly if they slip.
            For us humans, walking along rocky heights is a dangerous gamble. Here on the craggy Northern California coast, overconfidence in balance and agility brings many face to face with cliff rescue teams (if they’re lucky).
            War, disease, and economic instability can make us collectively feel like we’re walking on unstable ground. Personal tragedy or insecurity also make us feel like we’re teetering high above rough waves and rocks.
            We warn loved ones to stay away from the edge when we’re walking in cliffside areas, but we don’t always have the option to avoid instability and danger.
            The best we can do at times is to tap into the instincts and techniques we’ve learned for surviving. Hopefully if we start to slip, we find our footing and stabilize.
            World circumstances have many feeling like we’re staggering at the edge of a precipice. Reach out and offer a helping hand if you see someone who needs it, and don’t be shy about calling for support if you start to slide.
            In uncertain times, find the most stable ground available, and keep putting one foot forward!
            This week’s Hike Notes, Frolic Cove Walk-Mendocino, takes readers on a beautiful coastal walk that leads to the site of a historic shipwreck on the Mendocino Coast. 
            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.
            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 140: Frolic Cove Walk-Mendocino

Quiet and Enduring
            Where do we look for assurance when dark news pops up in every direction, changing the solid sense of a foundation under our feet to jello?
            We first turn inward, using skills honed through life experience to maintain calm. We focus. We breathe. We regulate our intake of information to stabilize overstimulated minds and bodies. 
            When one too many disturbances shakes our faith in humanity, and our self-support battery has run down, we reach beyond ourselves.
            Maybe it’s an older relative who always has a wise insight to share. It may be a quiet, steadfast friend who we don’t see often but share an unwavering sense of solidarity with. We know if we reach out and say, “I’m feeling overwhelmed by the world’s troubles. How about you?,” there will be a calming spirit of camaraderie in whatever words come back to us.
            Recent news cycles have relentlessly pounded the world’s collective psyche. These are the times we check in with the favorite aunt, the quiet old friend, the faithful neighbor we know we can open our heart to.
            May we all cultivate such important people in our lives, and more importantly, may each of us have the honor of being that person for someone else who needs to reach out when times are tough.
         Speaking of tapping into treasured resources, I am very thankful to share new World Walks contribution Hopedale Pond and Parklands from Marjorie Turner Hollman, steadfast friend of HikingAutism. Kindred spirit Marjorie deftly writes about matters of the heart amidst challenging times, while sharing the joys of walking in nature.
         This week’s Hike Notes are from the HikingAutism archives, China Camp Campsite to Chicken Coop Hill. The autumn colors in the Hopedale Pond and Parklands World Walks reminded me of the glowing golden light we’ve experienced on China Camp walks.
            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 Hike Notes from the Archives:
(Original Hike Notes 49): China Camp Campsite to Chicken Coop Hill
 
            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.
            Check the Home page for the broader background story. Please feel free to share, and follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism