A Walk above the Clouds
Earlier this week, we took a walk down my road, in the valley along the Barton River. These pictures, which we taken the day after the walk down my road, couldn't be more different. Instead of the valley, this walk was along the ridgeline of Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest mountain. Instead of soft meadows, a gently coursing river, and a palette
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Part of it's the boots; part of it's the hiker. This was not a hard hike. Children do it. But I am extremely skittish after my fall on Bald Mountain this summer. Both arms are still scarred from that, and the scar on my elbow is going to probably be around for years. I was beginning to build my confidence, but that fall deflated it.
The series on little lakes in those pictures are the Stowe golf course! :)
I read an article this week, I think in The New York Times, that said a number of therapists have been encountering women who are feeling low and/or anxious due to the election news!
I've heard that too. And in ed circles, the buzzword is the Trump effect: the fear that children are experiencing, increases in bullying, and difficulty maintaining civil discourse in the classroom.
That particular day, I was extremely self-conscious because I was so nervous on those rocks and slow as a result. It felt like everyone was passing me, and I had to cross a fissure that put me on the verge of a panic attack. Those kinds of experiences bring back memories of being singled out by my PE teacher in elementary school and made fun of by my peers because I was less athletically capable than pretty much everyone in my class. I've accomplished so much in the years since then, becoming an accomplished skater, decent Oriental dancer, and above-average in strength and endurance, but it's amazing how those decades of hard work and accomplishment can still feel dwarfed next to those formative feelings of being stared at, mocked, and judged.
Re: the election, I have to admit that I more or less forced myself to watch this week's debate, mostly because I wanted to feel informed about the post-debate news coverage. I was pretty excited about the first two because I enjoy hearing Hillary speak. (I might be one of the only people who likes how she speaks, but I do. She exudes competence and poise.) That excitement is gone and not because of her. I still love hearing her speak. But watching the Great Pumpkin (love that!) on a national stage, belittling her, interrupting her, lying about her, bloviating, pumping up himself and his accomplishments, looming over her in the background, especially in the wake of the hot-mic tape ... I don't know. It makes me sick in a way that I've never really felt before.
I LOVE your niece's costume idea! OMG, if she goes through with it, please post pictures?!
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