Author: asiwentwalking

Frick ParkPittsburghAugust  2023 The Frick Park Lawn Bowling Club rocks it in Pittsburgh’s East End.  Has since 1938.  Generally older folk roll a ball on the manicured grass about as slowly as it can move without imitating stasis.  I think those playing this bowling-like game get older as they play.  Their goal however, is to… Continue reading Bug Spray

Blue Spruce ParkPennsylvaniaMay  2005 Suddenly a commotion trailside.  Big wings!  It’s a hawk, a Red-tail streaking and whizzing around a tree, circling like crazy, fast, fast.  I’m surprised I don’t see tire screech marks in the air.  It’s chasing a chipmunk.  So this is why chipmunks chase each other up and down tree trunks.  Have… Continue reading Chipmunk v Hawk

Mount RogersVirginiaJuly  2014 We take a short rest at the junction where the Appalachian Trail meets the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail.  We get to chatting with another couple of hikers.  These two are checking their maps, looking around, squinting, scratching their respective heads.  They are trying to decide how strenuous the hike up Wilburn Ridge… Continue reading Theory of Universal Compensation

Monongahela National ForestWest VirginiaJuly  1992 Another time in Dolly Sods as I am making my way up the trail a few days after a storm, I come upon a downed tree.  A tall, muscularly chiseled woodsman is chopping through the log which is blocking the trail.  He’s using an ax.  His flannel shirt lay on… Continue reading My Man

Monongahela National ForestWest VirginiaJuly  1992 A German family settled in this area in the 1700s.  Their family name was Dahles, pronounced “dollies.”  “Sod” is a term for an open grassy meadow.  Hence this place became known as Dolly Sods. I had been on the trail for several days when I came to a clearing.  Some… Continue reading Dolly Sods

the Appalachian Trail To walk;  to see and to see what you see. Benton MacKaye said this, commenting on the ultimate purpose for hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  MacKaye was an early 20th century forester, conservationist and visionary, one of his visions being the Appalachian Trail.  He is the guy who dreamed it up. I… Continue reading By Shank’s Mare

Quebec Run Wild AreaPennsylvaniaMay  1999 The Quebec Run Wild Area is on the eastern slope of Chestnut Ridge in southwestern Pennsylvania.  In order to retain the wild and natural character of the land, the area permits no development of a permanent nature.  How wild it is however, we are about to discover. The forest is… Continue reading A Little Bit of Discretion

North CarolinaJune  2015 Halfway from Charlotte to our destination in the Great Smoky Mountains, we pass the village of Flat Rock.  Carl Sandberg lived here, as fine a writer and poet as ever wrote and poeted.  Here is Happiness… I asked professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness.And I… Continue reading Carl Sandberg

MassachusettsMay  2014 Before we get to our summit hike on Mount Greylock, we drive through Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Lisa and I try to name all the professional basketball players we can think of.  Lisa scores big, naming many, many more than I do. “Oh yeah?” I challenge her, trying… Continue reading Bunny Levitt