Author Archives: tracye1

About tracye1

A wee bit about me, Tracy. Married to my high school sweetie for a looooong time. Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, now ADULTS!!!! This blog is a potpourri of posts. Some wax on about my Catholic faith, others family, some are just a “diary” of life updates. Life is a journey, taken one day at a time (sometimes one step at a time) and my blog is about my personal trek through life. Peace!

Summits and sunsets

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Today we put our boy on the plane back to Florida for a few days rest and lawn mowing before he heads to the Keys with his girlfriend’s family. Tough life, right? However, that also marks the downward slide of this amazing vacation. And that’s ok. It’s been phenomenal. A favorite compliment to us this week was “we look like we belong here”. True. You never know what God has in store for us and looking back 10 years ago, I would never have pictured this. Ever. Man, God IS good. And full of surprises. So, who knows!

Yesterday, we let the kids sleep in and then spent the day at Mt. Cranmore enjoying the ropes course and zip lines (ok sort of—it was a great workout, but a few of us are not height fans and were thrilled to be done with that part!), ski lift (amazing views, cool breeze and lost sunglasses found again after a return trip up the lift), mountain coaster and general enjoyment of the ski resort during summer. We were able to spend time with Hubby’s cousin at his super cool home followed by a yummy Chinese restaurant afterward. We were fortunate enough to catch the sunset on the way back home on the Kancamagus Highway. It was a wonderful way to cap off the day and end the boy’s mountain vacation.

Mt. Cranmore-summer fun

The boys summited Mt. Washington the other day. I still have no pictures yet, but they had a tremendous experience. Adequately prepared, they experienced the crazy weather that accompanies an enormous mountain from 70 degrees at start to 30 degrees and socked in with wind at the summit. Periods of visibility to less than 200 yards to completely clear within 10 minutes. Lunch in the AMC shelter and a break from the weather with 25 other hikers. 8 hours of hiking. Both agreed they were glad to experience the highs and lows of the weather and the challenge it brought as it made the glory of the summit that much more appreciative. If that isn’t a great analogy for life, I don’t know what is. Nothing worth having comes easy.

Today we will explore a bit more locally again, light hiking with the pup and prepare to head to PA tomorrow to visit with my mom and her husband again before we head south and home.

So, for now, I’m going to continue to soak up this porch, this weather and this time.

Blessed. Truly.

Sunset fun

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

It’s all about the journey

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Yesterday, we had a pretty chill-day. It’s actually incredibly difficult to force down-time when there is so much to see and do, but mother nature helped us out with a rainy start and finish to our day. Although we did manage to sneak in a walk through town and a quick walk on the river trail in-between storms. A little driving around and napping, too. It was good stuff. However, even on a “chill day”, I didn’t have to try hard to get my 10,000 steps in.

This morning started out at a brisk 57degrees and cloudy; a temperature that my brain and body are still trying to compute. The boys were planning on heading up to hike Mt. Washington and the girls and I were going to do some shorter hikes and then it just was dreary, cold and not looking so promising. They decided to go for it anyway. (and at this moment, have just summitted). They will eat their weight in pizza for sure at Fabyans.

We picked an “easy” hike up Lonesome lake trail to Lonesome Lake and to check out the huts that you can stay in. 1.6 miles. Straight, friggin’ up. Easy? I don’t even believe those AT trail people and their descriptions anymore. At one point I honestly just started praying out loud the old stand-by of “Come, Holy Spirit” with a Hail Mary to round it out because our youngest daughter was so hangry that I was about to go Mommy Dearest on her. Fortunately, prayers don’t fail and we made it to the top with our family intact. And what a view. Hangry passed and going down was FAR EASIER than going up—although my rear end will be talking to me later today. So….. at 1:30 p.m. and 13,000 steps already, our hikes (plural) have turned into A HIKE (singular) and now we will clean up and explore before we pick up the boys later. And that is A-OK.

What an amazing world we live in.

Oh, and on the way down, we passed folks heading up to stay in the huts with full backpack gear, but the most impressive was Mama toting a toddler on her back. I told her that she was my hero, because a practically empty teensy backpack was all this Mama could do. Awesome!!

It’s been a long time coming….

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I totally get the whole snowbird concept now. I also realize that I could ABSOLUTELY be a snowbird. mid-July with windows open, yoga pants on and 2nd cup of coffee on the front porch with my dog mauling a tennis ball—I’m in.

With 3 of our 4 kids we left at 1 a.m. after working all day. Hubs managed about a 4 hour nap and I grabbed a couple of hours on the couch. Our son came home from work and we loaded into the truck. 3 teenagers. 1 extremely confused, 65 pound 10 month old “puppy” and the Hubs and I. A stop at Wawa for coffee and we hit it. About 5 gas/pit stops/puppy walks/driver swaps and 17 hours later we pulled into my Mom and her husband’s home. Just in time for dinner. Play time with their 2 Newfoundlands trying to “love” our pup. Showers. Firefly spotting. Chatting on the back porch. And glorious, horizontal rest in cozy beds.

In the a.m., we were recharged. Hiked with the pup up through a farm and then hit the road for another 7 hours. I will say that I am a beach girl, but the mountains…….a seriously close 2nd place. THAT said, driving white-knuckled THROUGH the mountains during a horrific thunderstorm is not my favorite and will thus keep mountains in 2nd place. However, once arrived, the rain stopped, pizza was eaten and rest was had by all.

Yesterday, the hubs and the pup and I started off with a hike along the river. Later, we hiked with the kids through Lost River Gorge and caverns followed by a 3/4 mile hike STRAIGHT UP the side of the mountain. None of us completed it. The youngest and I quit after the first boulder ascent (she was exhausted and I know the limitations of my knee), our oldest daughter lasted another 20 minutes (about 1/3 of the way) and the hubs and boy came down not long after (perhaps at the 1/2 way point). ‘Twas no joke. Afterward, we rode a bit further to a lake we passed on the way in (during the rain) to explore. A phenomenal refresher after all that climbing.

Beaver Pond

Spaghetti dinner, salad and bread.

Evening moose spotting (we saw one!) and ice cream and we wrapped that day UP!

We are missing our oldest son who is house and cat sitting and working. Adulthood is hard. Sometimes you figure it out at 18, sometimes it’s later. And sometimes you get a “re-do” and have that 2 week vacation that you’ve dreamed of for years. Somehow life works itself out. One way or another.

If you look real hard, you will see my Hubs swimming out to the rock. You would have to look even harder to find a happier man right now.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

We all need a little more good Samaritin

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In the wake of last week’s tragedies and the terrifying level of unrest and chaos that has followed, I’ve just been processing and re-processing the events but mostly just in the way we all respond. I’ve seen several friends just step away from social media to get a break from all the negativity and turmoil. Others spouting crazy and radical views, but most are just trying to focus on trying a little harder to love each other.

And that is hard.

But not impossible.

Sunday’s Mass gospel (Luke 10:25-37) focuses on the story of the good Samaritan, who of the 3 men who pass by a battered man on the roadway is the least likely to help…..they are different religions, races and hated by one another and yet, this is the man that lends the healing hand. All other things are cast aside and the Good Samaritan only sees another human in need and does what he can to help the man. This. This is what we need in our country and neighborhoods and homes, right now.

We don’t get to choose our skin color.

We don’t choose what country we are born into.

We don’t choose our family.

We can choose what we do with our skin color, our country, our family.

We can choose how we treat one another.

A little more good Samaritan.

making the trek

Trekking through life: Faith, family, friends and a whole lot of coffee!