Category Archives: Blog posts–Easy Walks

by Marjorie | April 19, 2016 · 1:03 pm

Healing by getting back on that bike

Back on the biketrail in Gardner, MA

It’s been over 20 years since I was able to hop on a bike and pedal myself down a path. That saying, “just like riding a bike” always catches me—people think riding a bike is something you can’t forget how to do. Yet for some of us, because of balance issues caused by many things, riding a bike is exactly what we can no longer do. Maybe it’s not that big a deal for some folks. But before my life changed because of surgery to remove a life-threatening brain tumor, I was physically very active. I loved to get outside, loved to walk, loved to swim, loved to dance, and biking was something that was easy for me. Continue reading →

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Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks, Meditations/Liturgies

Tagged as family portrait ideas, healing, MA railtrails, New england railtrails

by Marjorie | April 10, 2016 · 3:23 pm

Return to Joe’s Rock

Joe’s Rock, Wrentham, MA

Last month I had an unfortunate encounter with an overenthusiastic farm dog, all while standing too close to the edge of the farm porch. The resulting fall has kept me homebound the past month, icing my hip, lower back, ribs, and shoulders as I waited for my body to heal. Gratefully, I have no broken bones, but walking has been quite painful.

Strangely, walking on level floors has been more painful than climbing stairs. Yesterday, as the sun rose and the sky filled with blue, I thought, why not climb straight up Joe’s Rock? Continue reading →

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Tagged as family portrait ideas, Joe's Rock, Wrentham conservation land

by Marjorie | March 23, 2016 · 2:29 pm

Healing Easy Walks

After the fall, snuggling with grandboys and cousin Em

Our visit to the farm in the mountains was truly wonderful until the second day, when, standing too close to the edge of a porch, I was knocked off balance by an over-friendly farm dog. Suddenly I flew through the air, landing flat on my back on the ground after a four-foot fall. My sudden transformation from visiting grandma to instant patient took a lot of the fun out of our trip to visit our grandboys. It did not compromise the love I felt from this family who are so dear to me, but it made the family experience harder to fully take in. Continue reading →

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Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks, Blog Posts-Personal Histories

Tagged as New England spring, spring healing

by Marjorie | March 18, 2016 · 6:13 am

Sensory Trails in Massachusetts

Sensory trail at Stony Brook, Norfolk, MA

Here’s information about trails across the state, accessible for everyone, and especially for those with limited mobility or sight-impairments. Get outside and enjoy!

http://tinyurl.com/sensory-trails-for-everyone

Marjorie Turner Hollman

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.

A Path Less Traveled

Small dam in the Upper Charles River within sight of N. Maple Street in Bellingham

When I was growing up in S. Florida, we read Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” which left a lasting impression on me. I can still picture a lone man in the wilderness, struggling against the elements, fingers so cold he failed to hold onto precious matches, which were dropped, useless, into the wet snow. It’s been bitterly cold in New England, in the minus digits, something I associate with Alaskan, or Yukon Territories sort of locale, not New England. Whenever it gets this cold my thought go back to the reading of this classic story, and I want only to stay inside, sheltered and warm.

And yet, after a day or two, the cold relents, and the urge to get outside takes over. This afternoon it was a balmy 23 degrees F, so we ventured to a nearby trail I hadn’t visited in a long while, Continue reading →

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Tagged as Army corps of Engineers property, family portrait ideas, Upper Charles River

by Marjorie | February 4, 2016 · 1:20 pm

Coming Home

Fall in New England

I have heard it said that understanding and sharing your past can change your future, but it was only recently that I began to fully grasp this truth.

In my work as a freelance writer and personal historian, I often ask people, “How did you get to where you are today?” The question might be in reference to a person’s vocation, but it may also simply be about how a person came to live in a certain place. The answers I’ve received have been endlessly fascinating. Continue reading →

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Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks, Meditations/Liturgies

Tagged as Adams Farm Walpole, coming home, Family history, family portrait ideas, meditations, Neponset River, Trustees of Reservations, walpole chamber of commerce, walpole ma history. trustees of reservation

by Marjorie | January 27, 2016 · 11:29 am

Late to the Party

Pout Pond, Uxbridge

I’ve been steadily working away at updating my first trails book, Easy Walks in Massachusetts. My first attempt at this sort of publication, Easy Walks, the first edition, lacked maps to trail heads, left out a number of area towns in the Blackstone River Valley, and omitted several really nice trails in the area the book covered. I’ve learned of some new trail systems, some quite nice, that I wanted my readers to know about. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Blackstone Valley walking trails, family portrait ideas, Uxbridge MA trails, Walking trails Uxbridge

by Marjorie | December 30, 2015 · 5:45 pm

Christmas Memories

Mom, or Grannie Kuhl, part of another Christmas ornament

My sister Beth is an unashamed Christmas nut–she pulls out all the Christmas decorations every year, is thrilled with any gift pertaining to Christmas, and simply sparkles with enthusiasm about all things Christmas-y. I, on the other hand, can be almost Grinch-like about wrapping presents, about feeling obligated to reciprocate when given a present. So yeah, the two of us sisters are not that alike.

Sisters enjoying a hike in New Hampshire

But we have many things we both enjoy. We spent Christmas day together, my sister and her family with my husband and I. We had a wonderful walk in a nearby nature preserve, Continue reading →

Few or Many? Challenges of Group Hikes, Tackling Foxboro State Forest

Jennifer, one of my faithful hiking buddies, at a trail she discovered for us in Millis

Most of my outings are done with one, at most two other people. On these walks we check out a new area, and having few people along makes it easier to work with any surprises we might find along the trail.

Alex, a sweep, Ryan, Ben (the leader) and Ernie, my other sweep, at the end of our hike at Diamond Hill State park

This past week I participated in a couple “group hikes,” led by other groups. Last weekend, the Providence County hiking Club took 15 folks out on the trails at Diamond Hill State Park. An outing of this sort requires having folks who lead (and know where they’re going!) as well as “sweep” roles–a person or people who make sure those at the back don’t get left behind.

Paul points us toward the Bridle Path

The other group hike I participated in is part of an ongoing through December, every Thursday afternoon, 1PM at F. Gilbert Hills (Foxboro State) Forest, 45 Mill Street, Foxboro. Continue reading →

Taking a second look: Ashland State Park

Behind Warren Conference Center, along the Ashland State Park reservoir

The first time I visited Ashland State Park, I approached it from the far side of the reservoir. My friend Sandra lives across the street from the reservoir and that day we slid down a steep slope to the dam, and stumbled through poorly kept poorly-marked trails that were steep and rooty and rocky. As we finished our walk, Sandra asked if it felt like we’d taken an Easy Walk.

“NO!” I answered. Although the reservoir is quite lovely, Continue reading →

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Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks

Tagged as Ashland Reservoir, Ashland State Park, family portrait ideas, MA state parks

Category Archives: Blog posts–Easy Walks

Healing by getting back on that bike

Return to Joe’s Rock

Healing Easy Walks

Sensory Trails in Massachusetts

A Path Less Traveled

Coming Home

Late to the Party

Christmas Memories

Few or Many? Challenges of Group Hikes, Tackling Foxboro State Forest

Taking a second look: Ashland State Park

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