Beth Lapin

For the seventh year, I will be participating in the April A to Z Blog Challenge (I encourage you to check it out, if you’ve never seen it). My overarching theme is A Good Life and this year’s focus is on Stretches: a daily post with a stretch to contribute towards a Good Life. Stretches are an extension or expansion of our current life, a way to explore new opportunities or make small changes to our perspective.  Something that takes a little c-h-ourage (envision the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz). It may turn out to be fun or not, but you’re glad you tried it.

[In the spirit of providing daily commentary, I’m adding digraphs, those two letters that unite to consistently form a single sound, to my A to Z posts.]

Fourth time’s the charm! Due to weather and health issues, we’ve had to postpone our FINAL visit to Friendly’s for weeks. Finally, today we are ready to head out. And it’s a nice day, in the 50s and sunny. Cherry arrives with Spring in her hands – a lovely bouquet for me!

Since our last meeting, Cherry has lost her cat to a rare heart condition and we acknowledge the loss of Willa. Then we take the half hour drive to Crescent Lake. A bit breezy when we arrive at 10:30, we choose the shortest trail around the lake, about two miles, which provides lovely views. I talk about recent experiences where I felt very centered and clear; Cherry says that happens to her when she’s in nature and realizes how interconnected we are with all living things.

Some of the path is water-logged but there are enough protruding roots…

September 11, 2017

A day of extraordinary weather sends us on our way to our next Friendly’s in Danbury. We head west on I-84 and Cherry updates me about a recent family event. She, her sisters, and stepmother gathered at one sister’s home for a delightful, relaxing weekend. They thought about having a T-shirt made for their “reunion”—maybe next time! Both Cherry and her stepmother had cat issues before making it to the get-together, but all worked out.

Our nearby hiking site, Collis Huntington State Park, is a bit southeast of Danbury and we enter on its southeastern boundary. We start on the Aspetuck Valley Trail and head westerly to the park boundary. Trails are well marked and relatively flat as we continue on the blue trail a little more than a mile. The area is lovely, quiet, and peaceful. We share connection: I tell her about my newly discovered…