Gratitude and Sharing

Gratitude and Sharing
            It is Thanksgiving night as I write the draft of this week’s Insights post. I sit alone at my computer each week, looking through my photographic archive of hikes, sorting through sometimes hundreds of photos to find one image for the Insights post and ten images to represent that week’s Hike Notes.
            The official posting date for Insights is always on Sunday, even if the page was updated earlier. Our “autism whisperer” (In Memory and Thanks) always showed up like clockwork at 1 PM on Sundays to help get our son Sean out into the world. Sundays are a reminder of his miraculous help.
            If not another soul read my posts, I would still write them. Parents of special needs children deal with challenges on multiple fronts, too overwhelmed to process the emotional aspects. 
            Having feet on a trail—surrounded by trees, sky, and maybe an ocean view—makes life’s troubles seem simpler. Sharing Insights that may uplift others provides another level of solace.
            Rather than offering a new post under Hikes this week, I have updated the long-neglected Links page. Several readers sent in helpful links relating to autism and disabilities over the last year. (Due to a technical glitch, I was not receiving Contact form messages for almost a year. That problem has now been fixed, fortunately!) Thanks again to everyone. Though I may not be able to include every suggestion that comes in, I appreciate the heartfelt input.
            Thanks also to visitors to HikingAutism.com. It’s a thrill every time a reader says they’ve gone on one of the listed Hikes. My heart is warmed every time a reader says an Insights post was meaningful to them.
            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. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. 
            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:
Updated Links page