CC's Outdoor Journal

Motorcycle Women Photo: Times photo by Cherri Crockett

Darlene Whitaker of Mexico and Shelly Bronish of Dixfield are seen here during the motorcycle course they took in Auburn recently. The class was made up of five women and six men.

Here we are, green grass, trees showing their magic with buds getting bigger and more colorful every day. What is not to like about spring other than the massive amounts of mud with all the rain we’ve gotten. I, for one, am truly enjoying being able to explore the woods and finding neat objects that we may not see if the leaves and ferns were in full bloom.
The other thing that I’ve been finding a lot of is trash and bottles being left behind by the winter snow, or would that be litter bugs that don’t realize what they’re doing to our landscape?
Either way, I’ve been out walking and picking up the trash that they’ve left behind and I want to thank them for their money. I have been able to make about one dollar for each walk I take. That includes the hikes I’ve been on recently.
What better way to make some money than to take a walk and clean up your neighborhood at the same time. I urge you to get your children out walking and show them how good it feels to clean up their neighborhood and get exercise at the same time.
As you all know I went on a trip to the Maine Huts & Trails this winter and met some wonderful people, one of them being Lindsay Hill. I am pleased to announce that Lindsay started on her venture to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia just about a month ago. By the time this column publishes she will have passed through Damascus, VA and have covered more than 300 miles of the 2,000-plus mile hike.
Anyone wishing to take on the five to six-month trek from Georgia would have to be on the trail no later than May 18, as Baxter State Park closes around October 18 dependent on the weather. I wish Lindsay and her friend Mike safe travels and will be checking in with them as they approach Maine so that I can join them for a couple days as they hike north from Grafton.
Now, last month I told you I had signed up to take a motorcycle course. I am here to tell you that I took it and I got my license in the two-day course at Auburn-Lewiston Motorcycle Rider Education (ALMRE) that was offered by Auburn Police Officer Bud Couette.
I was very pleased to see a familiar face in Shelly Bronish on that first day. It was nice knowing someone out of the 11 students (five women/six men). Shelly had enlisted a couple of her friends to take the class with her, one of them being Darlene Whitaker of Mexico. They had their own little gang in the front of the class.
Taking the course offered great perspective on how to be more considerate of motorcycles. We all like to think that we are careful drivers, but when you’re put in the position of seeing how a person driving a motorcycle has to adjust for safety, you think twice. With that being said, please be respectful of motorcycles and don’t pull out in front of them or do any other crazy stunts that might endanger someone’s life.
As I sit here in the early morning sun breathing in the fresh, dew-drenched air I can hear the birds chattering, frogs gulping, a plane soaring overhead and the distant sounds of motorists making their way to their respective posts for the day ahead.
When was the last time you sat and listened, felt the sun on your face and just allowed the moment to take you where it desired?
My thoughts on this day are taking me back a couple days when my husband and I introduced our nieces to fiddleheads and showed them a bounty of worms at the base of corn stalks. All of us were enjoying walking, talking, playing with my dogs, discovering new things and appreciating our time together in what the outdoors had to offer us.
Last week, I didn’t have to be to the office until a little later in the morning, so my husband and I decided to take our dogs on a short hike up Woodsman’s Peak in Hanover. It was a little drizzly, but as we approached the top, the clouds lifted to make for a spectacular view of Howard Pond.
On Easter Sunday, a friend of ours called and asked if we wanted to go hiking instead of sitting and eating ourselves into a coma. We were delighted to be invited and set out for a special egg-hunting adventure on Puzzle Mountain in Newry with our friend Jackie Dupuis, and Lisa and Isaiah Smith.
Now, I ask you, how long did it take you to read these last couple of paragraphs? 30 seconds? A minute? That’s all it takes to set your mind for the day ahead. How can we appreciate what we have today if we don’t remember what we had yesterday?
I hope you will take a minute or two out of your busy schedules to stop, look, listen, feel and remember to appreciate all the things that make your world special to you.
I would enjoy hearing from you and finding out how your family spends time with one another and making memories. Feel free to email me at ccrockett@rumfordfallstimes.com and share your experiences for an upcoming CC’s Outdoor Journal.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to sign up for the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition first annual Healthy Hearts 5K Run/Walk happening this Saturday. The first 100 registered get a free shirt. See you there!