The M to the K to the T. Does that mean anything to you?
They are the trails I hiked at Highland Forest today. There are twenty miles of trails at this spectacular park where you can also take a horse drawn carriage ride! Once it starts snowing again, there will be skiing and sledding too.
Highland Forest is located at 1254 Highland Park Road, Fabius, NY. They open tomorrow at 8:30 am in case you want to go and search for some bear rocks.
The last time I was at the Onondaga Lake parkway, I fell. I was rollerblading and tripped over my own feet, lost my balance and hit the ground butt first really hard. For a minute or so, I wondered if I was paralyzed. That is, up until people surrounded me and someone said, “Are you all right?”
That is my least favorite comment in the world. It fuels the fire of humiliation and embarrassment. Somehow, I found the strength to get up and rollerblade back to the car with my fractured coccyx in tow.
That was years ago, probably close to twenty years ago – I’m fine now, but have since retired my rollerblades. They are in my sister’s garage preparing for her next yard sale. Size 8, if you want them.
Yesterday I decided to make my triumphant return to said parkway. It takes about an hour each way to walk the road adjacent to the lake. It is set up for the annual holiday event called Lights on the Lake, sponsored by Wegmans.
It doesn’t look like anything in the daylight; however, much like my students’ clay projects needed the heat of the electric kiln to transform the glaze, this place requires the night sky and electricity to come alive.
Yesterday’s hike was magnificent though. Peaceful, safe – and the bathrooms are heated! I did not make a spectacle of myself, no injuries to report, lol, and it was all free.
If you want to take a ride over there at night, you need to get your tickets in advance through their website.
Click here to see the magic that is Lights on the Lake at night.
Lights on the Lake will continue through January 14, 2022. Drive thru happens from 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm. Get your tickets here.
This is what I’ve been doing lately – walking around Clark’s Reservation State Park in Jamesville, New York. I found an app to track my hikes. I think they sort of look like Brice Marden paintings.
The app is called Walkmeter. It also lets me know elevation changes, pace and calories burned among other things.
I started hiking here last year with my friend Bobbi. I always just followed her and subsequently, had no idea where I was. Now that I’ve been exploring more on my own, I now know how all the trails are connected and how to get on the path to my favorite one (Pulpit Rock Trail). You can tell which one it is because I loop it several times. It has a steep rock climb at the end. It’s very challenging and soooooo satisfying. Clark’s is my new happy place.
Dad used to bring us here (Kathy and me) when we were little, so I feel that connection in every step I take. <3
Another perfect day in my universe…
I knew I would install my art exhibition at Half Moon Bakery & Bistro today, but the details of the how and the when, and the other stuff of it all were not planned. The artwork had been piled into a big blue bin on my back porch with two other similar bins resting on top of it (very difficult to access without making a huge mess) – so instead of wrapping my head around figuring it all out, I just had breakfast and sat in front of my laptop scrolling Facebook, mindlessly loving everyone’s posts.
I was thinking about my friend Bobbi because she and I helped each other with our last events at the bakery. My mind kind of wandered into – wouldn’t it be nice if she was available to help me? And then, out of the blue, she texted me.
I turned myself into a Tasmanian devil and within twenty minutes I had loaded the car with the art and all of the necessary install junk. I have no recollection of how that happened mind you; it just DID. We ended up meeting at Clark Reservation State Park in Jamesville, New York, which is down the street from the bakery, and hiking one of the many breathtaking trails there concluding with an awesome butt-blasting stair climb. Then we headed over to Half Moon and had lunch – spinach quiche and a goat cheese side salad with maple syrup balsamic dressing.
We hung the show together – thirteen watercolor paintings. Honestly, if it wasn’t for her, I would not have been able to do this alone! It really took two sets of hands to map out a plan with one holding the artwork while the other eye-balled the positioning.
It really didn’t take long with my good friend by my side (thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I <3 you, Bobbi Petrocci!) and the result is a very different exhibition than the one I had last time in October 2016. These are my baseball titled watercolors. They are priced to sell at $125 each.
Proprietor Debbe Titus and I planned the artist party as a closing reception. It is set for Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. We will have adorable and tasty mini cupcakes (planning three dozen) with frosting to resemble baseballs.
It is going to be so cute and fun! Please come if you are in the neighborhood! In addition, I will have unframed watercolors there to peruse and everything will be a cash and carry sale. You can leave with a happy tummy and a watercolor under your arm.
The Half Moon Bakery and Bistro is open Monday through Saturdays. Monday 10:00 am-3:00 pm, Tuesday 8:00 am-3:00 pm, and Wednesday-Saturday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Call (315) 492-0110 for more information or visit their web-site, www.thehalfmoonbakery.com. I trust I will see you there!
Last week it snowed. I know! Too soon. It is pretty much gone now. It was basically a non-stop blizzard that shut Syracuse down for, like, a day, lol.
I walked around Green Lakes for the first time under these circumstances. Still beautiful, but so different wrapped in this white blanket.
Santa, please bring me hiking boots for Christmas….
Achieving harmony happens when you are living a life of happiness and joy, a life of positive energy and good vibrations. If you are searching for a short cut to this harmonious vibrational alignment, you might want to visit (get lost in) the sunflower maze in Camillus, New York.
It is located in the backyard of The Inn Between Restaurant at 2290 West Genessee Turnpike, also know as Route 5.
My friend Lisa suggested an outing via a Facebook all-call and a bunch of us headed out there to frolic among acres and acres of sunflowers. It is Syracuse’s version of a Christo and Jeanne-Claude happening, something fun for the whole family, and cheap – $5 admission for families, $2 for individuals and a senior citizen’s discount.
The photo ops are priceless! And if you are an artist or otherwise inclined, and want to channel your inner Vincent van Gogh, you’ll have plenty of resources to keep you occupied all winter.
You can purchase sunflowers, sunflower seeds and honey made on-site by the many bees working diligently just for the fun of it. You can have dinner in the restaurant or just cocktails at the bar, as my friends and I did last night. So fun!
The maze will be available to the public until Sunday, August 21, 2016.
Not sure if these pictures do justice to the beauty that is Green Lakes in autumn. OMG, yesterday was spectacular. Talk about being in a happy place!!!! It is just so wonderful.
Sometimes I think there’s no place I would rather be and when I am there I feel like anything is possible. It is such a profound thing to find a place that feels like home where I can be the real me.
When I am there, any silly drama that has gripped me ceases to exist and I am just filled with happiness and joy.
Corny, I know. But there are certainly times when I can get lost inside my head – and then I start thinking too much about a disappointment, thinking what I could have done differently so that I could have had the outcome I desired.
They always say that everything happens for a reason. The universe is on your side and all that. That life will present you with everything you ask for as long as you are grateful. As long as you shed your worry, fear, stress and doubt.
They say that you can be a magnet for miracles. I have seen loads of miracles happen throughout my life and so I do have a lot of faith. But then, something happens once in a blue moon and you just can’t understand why it didn’t…why it doesn’t work out.
Walking around Green Lakes now, with the crisp orange leaves crackling at every step, creates a sort of blanket of love around me. And I am free to trust in my dreams again and know for certain that they will come true – maybe not in the way I thought or expected, but I know in my heart that it will be a magnificent outcome nonetheless.
