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- Paddling the Bottomless Marsh
- Adventure Foods is LIVE on Amazon with more than 60 Recipes!
- Where Adventure and History Mesmerize: Freedom Falls / Rockland Furnace
- How to Choose a Stand Up Paddleboard
- Exploring the Adirondack Shelters on the Gerard Hiking Trail in Oil Creek State Park
- Share Your Art
Trailblazer Thursdays
This week was my mother’s birthday. While she passed away from her grand adventure in this life in 1999, I have always chosen to reflect upon her and her impact in my life, and upon the lives of others, on her birthday rather than focusing on the date of her leaving us.
Ever since I was a little girl I enjoyed reading stories about great explorers, pioneers, and those brave men, women, and even children who pushed through challenges that are pretty much unheard of today. Many of those people left legacies of adventure, grit, perseverance and amazing determination to accomplish their goals.
But, as I reflected upon my mother this past week, it became crystal clear in my heart who the real “trailblazer” was in my own life. This is the woman who was terrified of the water, but also determined to go whitewater rafting, and later took swimming lessons in her early 50’s to help overcome the almost-numbing fear that would overwhelm her on the water. Yet, to the day she died, one of her greatest adventures was that whitewater rafting trip (and, for those who knew her, yes…she kept her hair dry and perfect…even in the rain on that trip!).
This is the woman who, when I was probably a sophomore in high school, came flying into the driveway one afternoon on her “new” motorcycle…only my Mom! For several years after that, I would head out on a long run, and after an hour or so, she would come out and find me somewhere along the roads, pick me up, and then we would head out on our own adventures. (I still refuse to fully explain all the mud deeply embedded into the bike that my brother and Dad tried to ask us about after one, um, shall we say, “misadventure?”) Oh, the stories I could share and share and share!
Both of my parents loved the outdoors, and my Dad was always happy to take us fishing, hunting, camping, canoeing, hiking…and pretty much anything we could get out and enjoy; and, best of all, we did it as a family. I’m sure my Dad was very pleased that my Mom was so willing to tackle the outdoors activities that we all enjoyed so much. Even though it may have appeared that he was the one who initiated the outdoors fun, it really and truly was my mother who always insisted on picnics and hikes, bicycle rides and camping, and even just spending time walking along a shoreline skipping stones or picking up fossils. Her passion for spending time outdoors was pretty epic for a modern woman!
My brother and I weren’t the only ones she influenced coerced into pushing our personal outdoor boundaries and comfort zones! No way! Ha ha! She was notorious for pushing, no, maybe dragging would be the better word choice, others out of their cushy, cozy spaces. She dragged one of her BFFs through the snowy trails on cross country skis, taught other women how to pee in the woods (lol! sorry, but some hilarious stories there!), and talked that same BFF into taking swimming lessons with her. No one was actually safe while she was around and an adventure awaited!! Good thing! Because those experiences gave us stories, and stories are what brings us to life, and when we are alive and filled with experiences then and only then will we truly live our own Beautiful Adventures.
So, this week, I salute the legacy of adventuring that my mother instilled within me, and that I am all too happy to share with my own daughters.
Don’t forget…
YOUR life is the Beautiful Adventure…
Live Now and Touch Today,
Tambra
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