Where did Black Bear go?

Grayson Highlands State Park, Virginia

Where did Black Bear go?

I am right where I belong, here at home and no longer on the Appalachian Trail. My blog is a little late to the party. I last posted in March but if you follow me on Instagram and or Facebook, you know that this is old news. I couldn't let the blackhole of my blog continue to widen, so here is my update.

Due to issues that kept creeping up and not really enjoying the hike because of them, I chose not to continue hiking after Trail Days festival in Virginia in May. I told Bruce I felt God wanted us home for some reason. And He did. Two days after returning, his parents called and told us they were moving. Wow. that was a shock.

We spent the rest of May and all of June packing then moving them into senior living. It was a blessing for all of us being there to help. Sure it was long days of packing, loading, driving, unloading, unpacking, and repeat but we were able to spend lots of time together telling stories and reminiscing.

Then with the flip of a page July was upon us. Beautiful weather continued to brighten Maine skies and our grass still had yet to be mowed. We do No-Mow-May for the bees and butterflies. But that turned into No-Time-In-June. Finally Bruce was going to mow the thigh-high lawn but I forbid it. Too many birds had taken up residence and I could even hear the chirping of babies. The unkepmpt yard didn't bother me. Infact, the field grass was growing on me. It reminded me of the wilds of the trail.

My goal was always to go back to the trail and finish what I had started. I wanted thru-hike number three in the books. But I finally succumbed to the fact that it wasn't going to happen this year. I thought I would be terribly disappointed, but I am not. As always the trail gives you what you need when you need it and this time around was no different. In those shore 512 miles that I completed, I made a handful of great friendships, realized I need to take my health even more seriously now that I have reached the big 6-0, and that there are always lessons to be learned no matter if your first goal is not attained. More on that one in the far future.

What has been fun, is reconnecting with hiker friends I met down south who have continued with their thru-hikes. They are making their way north and I have met up with several of them already and more are scheduled in the coming weeks. While my feet may not be on the trail my heart remains there.

Being home has also given me a chance to reconnect with my newest release, Happy Hiking A Trek Thru Depression. I never gave it a proper launch. While the newness has worn away, the importance of this subject never will.

When was the last time you saw the words happy and depression used in the same context? Probably never. And I had never heard them together until my newest release Happy Hiking A Trek Thru Depression was released in March of this year. When I titled my book I hadn't meant for it to sound like I was happily going through a challenging time in my life. Because I wasn't. Rather the intent was Happy Hiking denoted my series and A Trek Thru Depression was the main subject. After many rounds of edits I never noticed how up beat the full text sounded when read without a pause until I had the printed book in my hands.

After misreading the text many times I considered changing the title. But each time I read Happy Hiking A Trek Thru Depression as one fluid title instead of a title and subtitle, I decided to keep it just as it was written. I love the inspiring and upbeat vibe that comes from reading it without separation. It's a happy little accident for such a solemn subject.

While depression is no walk in the park and if depression could be graded on a scale, I would grade mine as minor compared to others who have shared their stories with me. But there is danger in comparison so we won't go there. In fact, I mention in my book how one of the things I struggled with was guilt. I didn't think my issues waranteed feeling so badly.

While this plug is several months late, I am still honored to share my struggles with depression with you and the skill set I used to hike happily in life again. Copies may be purchased here on my website or at Amazon.

Thank you again for following along and stay tuned to find out where Black Bear with go again.

Happy Hiking,

Emily