Coming Back to the Present
Occasionally, my brain and body rebels in most inconvenient ways. My mind refuses to stay on task with big deadlines approaching. It indulges distractions, like finding the right holiday photo card instead of finishing the library book due the next day. I get body aches and chills without a fever, nausea of unknown origin, headaches no painkillers can penetrate. Just weeks after a glorious trip to Maine, I suffered from all three ailments. I didn’t have the luxury of curling up on the couch or in bed for a few days to restore my health. So instead, I leeched mounting stress with useless flu meds, a few over-the-top outbursts, and one heart-stopping nightmare. This was not the homecoming I anticipated after my time in the Northeast, anchor of my ancestry and place I miss most each fall. At the invitation of a dear friend with a lovely vacation home, four of us ignored the first day’s rains to explore beautiful Bethel, followed by two days of the best hiking conditions – sunny and m...