TrishandAlex
New member
Cut and pasted from http://trishgrid.blogspot.com
Accompanying pictures can be found there.
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Crawford Path and Mount Eisenhower Loop, 8.6 miles roundtrip.
Today marks the second weekend I've ever spent without one or both of my kids. As a homeschooling mother, I am with Alex and Sage almost twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They do have their many extracurricular classes and playdates, but these little chunks of time aren't long enough for me to go out and do much on my own. Personal projects must wait until after they're asleep, so I'm often up until 1 or 2am accomplishing my own agendas.
This is not a complaint -- not by a long shot. I love being with my daughters. Watching them grow, being with them as they reach every milestone, facilitating their education -- every second of my life with them is well-lived. I look forward to every day ahead of us. And when the time eventually comes for them to leave home, I will take comfort in the fact that I raised them as best I could, adhering to the values both Hugh and I possess. Ours is not a perfect family, not by any stretch of the imagination, but our goals are honorable and our intentions pure.
That being said, I now feel the need to find more time to myself. Also, Hugh needs to spend more time with his daughters. I am lucky to have such a hard-working, intelligent and generous man as the father of my children -- I am proud of him in every way. However, his continued success depends on his ability to work long hours and travel often. To solve every one's needs, we're now scheduling one or two weekends a month where Hugh has the girls all to himself. This is a good thing, of much benefit to everyone.
Two or four days a month without my kids -- that's quite a change for me. Before becoming a mother, I was a wildly independent person and had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with people on all fringes of "normal" society. I traveled widely, enjoyed my bohemian lifestyle, and befriended many a colorful and courageous character. One could safely say that both Hugh and myself have lived lives that certainly fall outside the bounds of what most consider normal.
Then I had kids, and everything changed. My life has since been consumed with the duties of motherhood -- which is all fine and good, since raising children is, by far, the most important occupation.
But now the time has come to plunge myself back into adult society. Well, for two to four days a month, anyway.
Grown-up Weekend began with a fantastic hike up Pierce and Eisenhower with my friend Barry, a nice fellow I met a few months ago on Osceola. He and I have been emailing back and forth lately, exchanging notes on various trails and mountains. Since he was going to be up here the same weekend I had off, we decided to join forces and tackle the Crawford Path together. It would be his first time on both Pierce and Eisenhower.
The Crawford Path was well-packed, and our ascent was an easy one. Barry is a great fellow to hike with. I enjoyed his company very much.
We made it up to Pierce in an hour and a half. I can't imagine a better day...there was no wind and the skies were clear.
After a summit snack, we moved on toward Eisenhower.
We had hoofed up Pierce on microspikes, but now it was time for the snowshoes. There were a lot of snowdrifts between the two mountains.
As I huffed and puffed my way up Ike's summit cone, I took notice of the new ladders.
My legs did not want to go on, but I convinced them to keep moving. When Barry and I finally got to the summit, we were treated to lovely 360 degree views.
We stood there together, admiring the splendor of Mother Earth. As much as I appreciate the pleasures of hiking solo, I was reminded of the words Chris McCandless scribbled in the margins of a paperback shortly before his death: "Happiness only real when shared" (sic).
Speaking of shared happiness, a large, jovial group joined us on the summit as we were admiring the panorama. They were obviously having a grand time, joking and laughing with each other. Their presence brought an extra layer of joy to the day, as their smiles and chuckles were infectious. Barry and I reluctantly took our leave of them to begin our descent.
Once back at Pierce, a friendly bird showed up. This was Barry's first gray jay experience.
Brave little critters, aren't they?
From here, it was an easy descent back to the car.
After our hike, we stopped in at the Highland Center and ran into Paradox, Jason B., Tom Rankin and his wife Laurie, and a large group that had just hiked Avalon. We hung out for a while and socialized, then Barry turned in for the night and I followed Tom, Laurie and Paradox to a brewery in Littleton.
'twas an excellent day!
As for my second day of Grown-Up Weekend...today, Sunday, I will enjoy seven solid hours of uninterrupted time, during which I should accomplish a great deal of work. Then I will return to Massachusetts and happily dive back into the blessed chaos of Motherhood.
Life is good.
Accompanying pictures can be found there.
*************
Crawford Path and Mount Eisenhower Loop, 8.6 miles roundtrip.
Today marks the second weekend I've ever spent without one or both of my kids. As a homeschooling mother, I am with Alex and Sage almost twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They do have their many extracurricular classes and playdates, but these little chunks of time aren't long enough for me to go out and do much on my own. Personal projects must wait until after they're asleep, so I'm often up until 1 or 2am accomplishing my own agendas.
This is not a complaint -- not by a long shot. I love being with my daughters. Watching them grow, being with them as they reach every milestone, facilitating their education -- every second of my life with them is well-lived. I look forward to every day ahead of us. And when the time eventually comes for them to leave home, I will take comfort in the fact that I raised them as best I could, adhering to the values both Hugh and I possess. Ours is not a perfect family, not by any stretch of the imagination, but our goals are honorable and our intentions pure.
That being said, I now feel the need to find more time to myself. Also, Hugh needs to spend more time with his daughters. I am lucky to have such a hard-working, intelligent and generous man as the father of my children -- I am proud of him in every way. However, his continued success depends on his ability to work long hours and travel often. To solve every one's needs, we're now scheduling one or two weekends a month where Hugh has the girls all to himself. This is a good thing, of much benefit to everyone.
Two or four days a month without my kids -- that's quite a change for me. Before becoming a mother, I was a wildly independent person and had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with people on all fringes of "normal" society. I traveled widely, enjoyed my bohemian lifestyle, and befriended many a colorful and courageous character. One could safely say that both Hugh and myself have lived lives that certainly fall outside the bounds of what most consider normal.
Then I had kids, and everything changed. My life has since been consumed with the duties of motherhood -- which is all fine and good, since raising children is, by far, the most important occupation.
But now the time has come to plunge myself back into adult society. Well, for two to four days a month, anyway.
Grown-up Weekend began with a fantastic hike up Pierce and Eisenhower with my friend Barry, a nice fellow I met a few months ago on Osceola. He and I have been emailing back and forth lately, exchanging notes on various trails and mountains. Since he was going to be up here the same weekend I had off, we decided to join forces and tackle the Crawford Path together. It would be his first time on both Pierce and Eisenhower.
The Crawford Path was well-packed, and our ascent was an easy one. Barry is a great fellow to hike with. I enjoyed his company very much.
We made it up to Pierce in an hour and a half. I can't imagine a better day...there was no wind and the skies were clear.
After a summit snack, we moved on toward Eisenhower.
We had hoofed up Pierce on microspikes, but now it was time for the snowshoes. There were a lot of snowdrifts between the two mountains.
As I huffed and puffed my way up Ike's summit cone, I took notice of the new ladders.
My legs did not want to go on, but I convinced them to keep moving. When Barry and I finally got to the summit, we were treated to lovely 360 degree views.
We stood there together, admiring the splendor of Mother Earth. As much as I appreciate the pleasures of hiking solo, I was reminded of the words Chris McCandless scribbled in the margins of a paperback shortly before his death: "Happiness only real when shared" (sic).
Speaking of shared happiness, a large, jovial group joined us on the summit as we were admiring the panorama. They were obviously having a grand time, joking and laughing with each other. Their presence brought an extra layer of joy to the day, as their smiles and chuckles were infectious. Barry and I reluctantly took our leave of them to begin our descent.
Once back at Pierce, a friendly bird showed up. This was Barry's first gray jay experience.
Brave little critters, aren't they?
From here, it was an easy descent back to the car.
After our hike, we stopped in at the Highland Center and ran into Paradox, Jason B., Tom Rankin and his wife Laurie, and a large group that had just hiked Avalon. We hung out for a while and socialized, then Barry turned in for the night and I followed Tom, Laurie and Paradox to a brewery in Littleton.
'twas an excellent day!
As for my second day of Grown-Up Weekend...today, Sunday, I will enjoy seven solid hours of uninterrupted time, during which I should accomplish a great deal of work. Then I will return to Massachusetts and happily dive back into the blessed chaos of Motherhood.
Life is good.
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