Sweet Sweet Sunday

Not just ANY Sunday, but Maple Syrup Sunday! This was the first year we attended one of these local events as a family. Usually the fourth Sunday of the month already has some sort of activity scheduled, not allowing us the opportunity to go out and experience what so many other Mainers already have experienced! But there is always time for a first...and it was obvious to us that THOUSANDS of Mainers were enjoying this particular annual SWEET holiday! Enjoy!

Climb up Black Mountain

This past weekend I accompanied my son Josh and his boys scout troop on a climb up Black Mountain, which is located in Jackson NH. My decision to go was based on my inability to let Josh go without me. I knew I would be carrying about 40lbs in my backpack and dragging a sled with a log of firewood on it, and I knew this was a mountain climb...so I knew it would be uphill work...and I knew I was not in the best physical shape to do it...but with everything I knew...I still wasn't ready to let Josh go without me. Saturday morning, wearing snow pants (1/2 lb), and snow boots (3 lbs), and snowshoes (2 lbs), and the (#*! heavy backpack)...Josh and I began our

climb...

It was not easy, not by a long shot...for two people who are not "physically in shape." With lots of encouragement from our fellow climbers we kept on walking. Uphill. After about a half hour I had to stop to catch my breath about every 25 steps. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. (Good excuse to stop and take a picture!). Lucky for Josh, we had loaded a smaller backpack for him, and one of the scout leaders had volunteered to pull up Josh's sled for him. Josh was doing OK. As for mom...one step at a time. I can only compare it to child labor...in that you know there is an end in sight, and once you reach the end, you may even consider doing it again! Our climb up took us two hours. What were the sleds for? The ride down of course...I'm happy and proud to say I didn't need to stop and catch my breath...and made it down in under an hour! Enjoy the pictures! I took these with Joshua's lightweight Canon Powershot A590 (under a pound!), which I carried in my pocket. The photo above is from the summit of Black Mountain looking at Mt. Washington. You can see the weather tower!