Travel (The Fun, The Adventures, The Mishaps)

Just Get Started

I went to Waterford High School, where I think I was lucky to have a number of really good teachers. One of my favorites was my junior year English teacher, Gail Dimaggio. She set up classes like Socratic seminars and asked us to think about what we were reading. It’s hard to teach someone to think, but that typically seemed to be her goal. One of her regular reminders was to “just get started.”

She told us that starting is always the hardest part, but once you start to write a paper the doing gets easier. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were wrong. It’s not the waiting that’s the hardest part. It’s the starting. Mrs. Dimaggio was right. There are […]

Just Get StartedMaggie Downie2018-02-14T17:44:43-05:00

Plank Story: The Critters at My Door

Matt was traveling for work. I was home alone after dark sitting in the living room when I heard a noise. A noise I can’t quite describe, but it is the sound of horror films—a metallic scratching and thudding. My heart jumped to my throat because I knew I was going to die. This was definitely the sound from the movies right before someone gets it, and I was hearing it in real life. Who would do this to torture me? Had I locked all the doors? I was pretty sure I had.

I followed the noise, not knowing whether that was the right move. I tiptoed through the house in a terror trance. The noise pulled me through the kitchen […]

Plank Story: The Critters at My DoorMaggie Downie2018-01-13T15:48:05-05:00

Hiking Alone

Heading to the trail-head alone.

I can’t explain why but I needed to go hiking alone. I felt compelled to hike in the White Mountains all by myself. For some people this may be no big deal. When I’m hiking, I see lone hikers all the time. And now I wonder if their moms are as worried about them as mine was about me. Because mine was pretty worried. If cell service allowed I promised to text her practically hourly. Luckily for her sanity there was service the entire hike. It made me feel safer too.

Part of my reason for hiking the White Mountains alone was practical. I didn’t feel like planning. I was going to be half way there after working in Boston, and I didn’t want to have to drive back to Connecticut to meet friends and drive back. Matt was traveling for work. But for all those excuses there was something else drawing me.

The White Mountains is one of my favorite places to spend time. I wanted it to myself for a moment. I’m comfortable there. The hikes are challenging and you can get […]

Hiking AloneMaggie Downie2017-12-29T20:01:34-05:00

Busy Bee No More

We hate getting a busy signal. We talk about someone being a busy bee, and we often claim we are too busy. Keeping up with the Joneses no longer feels like striving for the McMansion with a white picket fence, two kids, and a dog. Whatever your family or housing situation, lately, I feel like keeping up is about being busier than your neighbor. No one is forcing anyone to be busy, but there is this unspoken expectation that every minute must be filled or…or…or who knows, but it will probably be catastrophic.

Perhaps I’m the only one with the issue and I just revealed a personal complex, but I don’t think so. I don’t want to be busy anymore. When I was in my teens and twenties I loved having a full schedule that hopped from one activity to another. Now I require rest, but I still fill my schedule to an unmanageable capacity. I want a full life. I just no longer want to be constantly watching the clock and rushing from activity to activity.

The other night I sat outside with a neighbor who I’ve met a few times and we chatted for hours, uninterrupted, unworried about where we […]

Busy Bee No MoreMaggie Downie2018-01-13T15:57:56-05:00

The Saga of the Microbiome Diet

I’m three weeks, two days, fourteen hours and fifty-three minutes (as of writing this) into my three month Microbiome Diet challenge. When this blog posts, I’ll be further along in case you just felt as bad for me as I did writing that.

Our obsession and need for food is fascinating. Obviously we need to eat to live, though I have always been someone who lives to eat. I love food. This may be the first time in my life I’m eating to live. I’ve cut gluten (which I’ve done for the past five years anyway), dairy, and sugar (including maple syrup and honey, but excluding fruit). Whole foods do taste good, but on this diet I never overeat, and I find I’m not actually that inclined to eat.

Here’s my problem. I love carbs and cheese. And apparently if I can’t eat them I don’t really want anything else. I would never have told you that I didn’t like meat, but I find myself having to force feed myself meat. I’ve discovered I don’t like chicken. I’ll eat it. Sometimes it even tastes good, like when it’s wrapped in bacon, but I could happily pass on the stuff. When I was […]

The Saga of the Microbiome DietMaggie Downie2018-01-13T16:18:32-05:00