tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49712191118677366752011-04-21T21:46:00.096-07:00"We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake." -Marie B RayMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-10164955986352892212009-04-28T18:55:00.000-07:002009-04-28T19:04:28.842-07:00

And if it should not be you, after all - Down the long passage, turning in the hall;Or slipping at a distance through the lightOf streetlamped corners just within my sight;I will not then turn back into my room,Chilled and disheartened wrapped in angry gloom;But warm myself to think the mind should sendSo many shades of you to be my friend...Gordon R. DicksonA real treestory from Highland Park,

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-17051131687379003802009-04-12T09:50:00.000-07:002009-04-12T09:54:35.842-07:00

Sometimes, when a wrench gets thrown into things, the results can be beautiful...

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-72464763970432252572009-02-04T13:26:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:25:16.684-08:00

I have been dependent on corrective lenses for sixteen years. For the last five or so of those years I have been contemplating laser eye surgery. Just the thought of being able to open my eyes in the ocean or wake up in the middle of the night and see the time on my alarm clock or watch a movie from the back row or go for a jog on a windy day or go camping and not have to worry about dropping a

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-63258240889315350052009-01-01T11:16:00.000-08:002009-01-01T11:46:14.930-08:00

After getting used to seat-less toilets, persistent touts, and pervasive feral cats, Morocco really is the most invigorating of places. My sister Sarah and I took a whirlwind ten-day trip this past October to get lost and wowed by a country that is equally old world and bustling metropolis. From the daily calls to prayer infiltrating the cities through loudspeakers to the mule drivers shouting "

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-81513389893525344172008-07-20T14:14:00.000-07:002008-12-08T19:52:34.003-08:00

Near the end of West Broadway Street in Jim Thorpe, PA the Mauch Chunk Creek flows freely and visbly underneath an old stone factory from the 1800s - now an eclectic restaurant called Flow. It is a working example of a local farm to table enterprise, and the food is varied and delectable!I took off to Jim Thorpe to hear some music - the Ryan Montbleau Band to be precise - and ended up loving the

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-63083784526876447062008-06-16T16:20:00.000-07:002008-06-16T16:25:36.666-07:00

"Oh the miraculous energy that flows between two people who care enough to get beyond surfaces and games, who are willing to take the risks of being totally open, of listening, of responding with the whole heart. How much we can do for each other." -Alex Noble

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-39724707671711583452008-04-07T18:56:00.000-07:002008-12-08T19:52:36.732-08:00

"There's a friend that I once knew and before his days were through, he was dark and stormy but he could laugh at all the world. I loved and took it all in stride and though I laughed on the outside, I'd give my life to take the loneliness that he had to endure ... How many times? How many times did I get to see my friend alive and think nothing of it? How many times? How many times did I look

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-42352534853212142612008-04-03T18:37:00.000-07:002008-12-08T19:52:36.976-08:00

Life is good here in Rochester NY. I haven't left yet, or even had any great adventures since returning home from the trail. Just brief travels and small pleasures. It was quite what I needed though. To be home. Near family and friends. Work a mundane desk job. Get into a "normal" routine. All this has been a good thing. Because it reminds me how much I hate normalcy. Complacency. Mediocrity.

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-74046316993573255982008-03-29T19:06:00.000-07:002008-12-08T19:52:37.099-08:00

We've had the heavy white stuff here. I was so intent on walking to the public market this morning, but with the wind chill it was about a whopping 17 degrees, so I split the difference and parked at Village Gate and walked the second half of it. It was such a beautifully bright sunny morning that I almost didn't notice I couldn't really feel my fingertips. A brisk one to be sure! Didn't stop me

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-57138330999855820582008-03-29T15:40:00.000-07:002008-12-08T19:52:37.375-08:00

I had hoped that the 24th of March would be a bright, sunny spring day. But it is a brisk, sunless, snowy morning here in Rochester, and that is okay too. You know, I'm not keen on talking about the weather. It is what it is and there's not much we can do about it, so I say we just go about our business regardless. But for some reason, people just love to talk about the weather. For one thing,

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-19979651422060758542008-03-10T03:01:00.001-07:002008-12-08T19:52:37.872-08:00

...to reunite with someone you haven't seen in sixteen yearscuriosityto reminisceto share joy to learn from others' life lessonslaughterto see old things in a new light to see new things in an old lightto try new food and wine to walk through freshly fallen snowto be open to possibilityto acknowledge growthto renew your spiritto see yourself in someone else's eyesto share a tub of frozen whipped

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-82929724393473285722008-02-13T10:29:00.001-08:002008-12-08T19:52:38.129-08:00

"If we do not change our direction we are likely to end up where we are headed for."- Chinese Proverb

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-51886823014948581172008-02-10T15:42:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:52:38.347-08:00

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of people and things cannot be acquired by vegetating on a little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." -Mark Twain

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-48049524988097361242008-02-02T19:02:00.000-08:002008-02-04T18:35:03.620-08:00

Rarely does a film move me spiritually, emotionally, and physically. August Rush did. Watch it. It's nothing short of amazing. http://www.imdb.com/video/trailer/me60688448/

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-91507868380792544442008-01-15T14:50:00.001-08:002008-01-15T15:18:12.719-08:00

My brother knew January 13, 2008 was the perfect autumn day for a trail ride and made sure I was on board. I'm still breaking in my new Fisher (or should I say it's breaking me in?) so we picked moderate terrain that was close to home but still offered a challenge. A few streets over from my house in Rochester is Pinnacle Hill, one in a line of drumlins including Cobbs Hill. Never mock a hill. By

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-41766416826963773212008-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:52:46.196-08:00

Wearing appropriate attire to cheer on our Buffalo Sabres The perfect spot to tailgate Who doesn't love northeast winters? Full house What a way to kick off the game!

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4971219111867736675.post-53819677259450471732008-01-03T14:26:00.000-08:002008-01-15T15:17:43.828-08:00

Life begs us to stand tall, breathe the fresh air, grab at the oppportunities rushing past, savor fleeting moments, and see the beauty bursting at its seams. My friend Lisa once said these unforgettable words, "I'm going to be overwhelmed by this greatness." She was, amusingly, referring to a Harry Potter movie we were about to see in IMAX. But the words stuck with me, long after the flying

Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17744948002492001568noreply@blogger.com0