Thursday Hikers

It was a perfect day for hiking today. Up, up, and away from the shopping, cleaning, decorating, mailing, and all the other seasonal distractions. The sun was out, the temperature was comfortably in the 20s, and the wind was only a little breezy. Gwen led us on new trails that led to our old friend, Balance Rock. It’s a glacial erratic that teeters wonderfully and never seems to roll any farther down hill than where it was placed. Before we got there, Tony practiced on many rocks to test his own balance and the dogs joined in the fun. Once at Balance Rock, we noticed that some other hikers had propped it up with sticks. Hmmm? It might keep it from heading on its downhill. Fun try anyway! Engineer hiker Conrad had us guessing at Balance Rock’s tonnage, but we were hopeless in our guesses! I attempted to assemble the Thursday gang for a portrait at Balance Rock, and you can see the results!! (Oh, yes, we do have fun.) On the way back to our cars, the frozen lake made me want to go ice skating. Who knows? Maybe I will. We had lunch (and thawing out ) at the Creamery in Cummington. I had The “Italian Flag” sandwich: avocado, store made hummus. arugula, and tomato on totally delicious foccacio bread. We had stopped on our hike and celebrated with a moment of silence (except for the dogs who barked all the while) when Winter began and, even more wonderful, light begins to return. Or something like that. Love, Health, and Peace to all of you. And to the whole world too. Penny