Tag Archives: finding easy walks

by | May 24, 2023 · 12:43 pm

Pedaling through history along the C&O Canal

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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

C&O Canal and towpath, Williamsport, Maryland

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical park (C&O Canal) runs alongside the Potomac River valley from the tidal basin in Washington, D.C. to Western Maryland. What was once the tow path for the canal is now a broad, level footpath that is great for walking or bicycling. The Potomac River is within view for much of the section north of Williamsport, Maryland, where we traveled. The trail surface is in good shape, covered with packed stone dust for most of the section we traveled, with a few muddy spots along the way.

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by | April 24, 2023 · 6:25 pm

Choate Park Medway in Springtime

Light green and red lacy buds decorate the tops of trees in spring at Choate Pond, Medway

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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Spring is a great time to get outside, but like the fall, visible signs of spring and the changes that happen in this season are compressed into a few short weeks. Summer and winter last for months on end. If you miss the window of opportunity to catch these quick changes, you will have to wait till next year to witness, and possibly capture in photos the wonders of new life springing forth all around us. At least, this is what I reasoned after realizing I have very few good photos of spring in my files.

A few pictures from other springs

Thus I welcomed the opportunity to get outside on a windy spring afternoon in April at Choate Park in Medway, MA. I met up with Marilyn and Dave Doré, collaborators with me for our now published book, titled Easy Walks in Massachusetts South of Boston. We were excited to get started on this trail guide, a companion to the other Easy Walks in Massachusetts books already available. We published the book in September, 2023 and it is now available in paperback and ebook formats.

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by | April 17, 2023 · 3:13 pm

Spring at the Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine

Benches, path, and rocky cliffs along the shoreline in Ogunquit

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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

We visited the Marginal Way in Ogunquit on an overcast spring weekend. It was given this name because it brings visitors to the “margin” between land and sea.

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by | April 14, 2023 · 2:30 pm

Birchwold Farm in Spring

Open fields offer lots of sunshine on a blue-sky day
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Warmer days offer a great excuse to get outdoors (as though we need an excuse). Grass is poking up through the soil. Maple trees are setting out buds that trim the woods’ edges with a reddish hue. My spring favorite, skunk cabbage, unfurls its shiny, rubbery looking shoots on the edge of, and sometimes in the middle of woodland streams and wetlands.

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by | March 16, 2023 · 3:12 pm

Getting outside–whatever it takes

The backstory of why Easy Walks

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

This blog and my books often make note of my challenges in getting outside. (Total paralysis on my right side from life-saving brain surgery that has partially resolved.) Many of you have your own reasons for seeking out Easy Walks. So… what has made the difference in helping me get outside safely? Family, yes. Friends, yes. People who are willing to drive me to far-flung destinations, yes. However, learning how to best use physical supports to aid me in walking outdoors has been a more challenging quest. Tools I have found useful have varied as my body has healed and become capable of doing more on my own.

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by | March 15, 2023 · 1:55 pm

Fancy canes and other help come in many sizes

Not a fancy cane, but hiking poles, yet another tool helping me get outdoors
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

This essay is included in My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming Hope in a World Turned Upside Down

When I returned home from the hospital after brain surgery in 1993, I did a great deal of sitting. Getting across a room was an effort; reaching the other end of the house to use the bathroom was a major undertaking. I spent a lot of time observing my healthy, active children and visiting with neighbors from my cushioned rocker in our living room.

By my side, ready at a minute’s notice, was the cane I had brought home from the hospital. Ugly stainless steel, four little feet at its base to provide better balance, this cane remained standing even when I could not.

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by | March 11, 2023 · 12:19 pm

Mistaken Point, Newfoundland

Unique fossils that make Mistaken Point a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

This was our first visit to the eastern shore of Newfoundland. No matter how much research we do, we always find more that surprises us. This is the joy and challenge of traveling to new places.

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by | March 8, 2023 · 4:11 pm

Return to Gros Morne, Newfoundland

Killdevil Mountain at Lomond Campground, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

A highlight of our trip to Newfoundland was returning to Gros Morne National Park on Newfoundland’s western coast. When visiting a place for the first time we often say, “We need to come back.” Much less often are we able to say, “It’s so good to be back,” especially when referring to more far-flung destinations. At the bottom of this article are links to previous posts on our earlier visit to
Gros Morne.

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by | March 1, 2023 · 11:40 am

Gillette Castle, East Haddam CT

Gillette Caste, East Haddam, CT

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

A mild winter’s day seemed just the time to take a day trip to East Haddam, Connecticut to visit Gillette Castle State Park, overlooking the Connecticut River. We had been to this area in the past for a winter boat ride along the river (February and March) in hopes of seeing bald eagles that winter in the area. The river stays open through winter and thus provides ideal hunting for eagles through the winter months. Our first trip favored us with multiple eagle sightings, but on this more recent visit we were not as successful. We caught a glimpse of what looked like an eagle soaring into the clouds overhead, but we’re not bird experts, and the glimpse we got was brief.

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by | February 23, 2023 · 1:32 pm

Keystone Arches, Chester, Middlefield, MA

One of several Keystone Arch dry laid stone railroad bridges over the West Branch of the Westfield River

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Often outdoor walking locations are “hiding in plain sight.” Locals know about what makes a specific place special. There may be a pull off for a good place to explore, but no sign is posted to assure visitors they have found the right location. The Keystone Arch Bridges trail starts in Chester MA and heads into Middlefield and Becket.

Signpost at the roadside

Clear signage has now been posted directing would be visitors where to find parking and get views of the dry laid stone railroad bridges that were built in the early 1840s to carry trains over the Westfield River. For background on the history of these bridges, learn more here. Information signs have been recently placed on Middlefield Road, next to Hebert Cross Road in Chester. Parking for about nine cars is available off road just past the sign.

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