Author Archives: Marjorie

Old-old friends

Marjorie Turner Hollman helps support nonfiction authors to self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

My long-time friend asked if we could set aside time to make candy mints for her niece’s wedding. Her request reminded me of the many times in years past when we would set up ingredients in her kitchen to bake together or pursue other crafty projects. Right behind those memories came images of the countless walks we have taken together—picking wild blueberries, strolling next to Silver Lake or swimming in the lake itself, hiking in a nearby state forest, attempting (and failing miserably) to train our dog to come on command, or hunting with our kids for dinosaur tracks alongside the Connecticut River.

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Wachusett Mountain in autumn, Princeton, MA

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors to self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

At 2000+ feet in elevation, Wachusett Mountain, in Princeton, MA, provides a perfect viewing spot for fall foliage. We visited on a beautiful fall afternoon when sugar maples were ablaze. The bright sunlight displayed oak trees’ reds and bronze foliage to their best advantage.

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Bartholomew’s Cobble

Along the Housatonic River

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors to self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

We visited the Trustees of Reservations property, Bartholomew’s Cobble on a beautiful autumn afternoon as the sun was sinking into the horizon. A very few visitors lingered as we arrived. We passed no other people on our way to a view of the Housatonic River.

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Covered Bridge Adventures, Sheffield, MA

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors to self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

Just off Rt. 7 in Sheffield, Massachusetts is a covered bridge that spans the Housatonic River. We were in the area and looking for a picnic spot. A short one-lane dirt road leads to parking for about six cars next to the river. The covered bridge is closed to vehicular traffic and is just a few steps from the parking area. Visitors must undertake a slight incline to access the bridge.

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Thomas & Palmer Brook, Great Barrington, MA

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors to self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

We are in the beginning stages of another Easy Walks in … trail guide, which will encompass the Berkshires. We were in the area and took advantage of a beautiful fall day to enjoy a short loop trail in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The Meadow Loop of the 333 acre Thomas & Palmer Brook property  is a half mile round trip with a packed gravel surface. This is an Easy Walk, for sure!

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Quinebaug Rail Trail, Dudley MA, redux

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors to self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

I knew I’d seen this dam before….

Have you ever been some place and thought, “I might have been here before, but something isn’t quite right”? That’s how I felt when we stopped at a rail trail in an area we were exploring. I felt sure I’d seen the dam across the way. The sign said Dudley, (MA) Quinebaug Rail Trail. The pond looked kind of familiar. But the trail … looked different.

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Hindsight and Healing

Getting help to set off in the kayak

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Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

She approached me with what looked like a midget light saber. But then she flipped the switch and it started vibrating.

I was sitting in a hospital room, about to be discharged to go home and figure out the rest of my life. Alive after brain surgery, my right side had become totally paralyzed during my time under the knife. During a month of rehab I had regained some function, and could feel sensations, I just could not control much of my arm or leg. This was not good.

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An Ode to Summer Shade–Uxbridge, MA, and Coventry, RI

Morning shade along the Blackstone Canal towpath, Uxbridge, MA

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Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

Summer is not my favorite season. Yes, I love the green, the sunshine, and flowers. Farm-fresh produce is great. Local u-pick opportunities are exciting (to me).

But it’s the heat, the way it affects me physically, that makes me feel as though I am walking through molasses. Those nights I cannot sleep make me long for snowy nights in mid-winter.

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Finding my balance

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Blueberries and homemade granola

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

The past thirty or so years have offered me challenges I never dreamed of. I no longer take for granted the ability to walk. “You never know what you’ve lost till it’s gone,” became my reality at age thirty-seven.

The years since then have taken me on a healing journey that has restored substantial movement to my right arm and let, and has profoundly changed who I am. Healing has come, slower than I hoped for, but it has come on many levels.

As I approach old age (reaching 70 hit hard!) I grew increasingly concerned that any more healing was past, and that the possibility of future increase in function was gone . . . .

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Easy Walk on the Riverfront Trail, Great Barrington, MA

Housatonic River view from the Riverfront Trail

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

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Grassy path, with many blackberry canes covered with blossoms in the spring

We visited the southern end of the Riverfront Trail in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in late spring, when blackberry canes were in full bloom. The path takes you alongside the Housatonic River, thus, the “river” in the trail’s name.

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