Book launch

 Finally…

Click on post to go to website.

Still hiking

 Maggie has anaplasmosis, a tick-borne illness. She has been sick for 7 days but feels a little better. Today, she started doxycycline… she’ll be on the drug for a month. Fun! 

Yesterday, we took a 4.5 mile hike and Maggie did well. It was our first hike in 6 days.  Today, we hiked Mystery Mountain. I was dragging but Maggie had good energy. Maybe I should try her drugs. 

Birthday Girl, October 8th

Maggie turned one. I ordered a pricy smoked bone ($28) and my house smells like a BBQ joint in Texas. But, the pup is happy... wicked happy. And that's all that matters. Happy Birthday, Sweetie.

Hiking Lollapalooza @ Sunday River

 We had a great fall day hiking. I couldn’t imagine a more glorious day. 

Promotional material

New version

                                                                               First Version 

It’s amazing how long it takes to compose promotional material… Click on flyer to expand. 

Hiking and Writing

HIKING & WRITING. We’ve had a pretty good summer of hiking—Maggie’s an absolute machine. I’ve also had fun finishing a novel that I started in 2016 😳and worked on by fits and starts these past nine years. If that sounds like a long time, it is. More on that below. First, here’s where the idea for the book came from:  

Over a thirteen-year period during the 1980s and 1990s, I organized and coached, along with a staff of friends, thirty state select soccer teams of 500 Maine kids. The teams played and toured in England. I’ve taken that remarkable experience and fictionalized one team’s tour in April of 1989. ⚽️

For the past 32 years I’ve been writing education books and articles as well as books and articles for coaches, athletes, and researchers. Writing this novel has been a challenge, but I had help from colleagues and friends along the way, and they’re mentioned in the book’s acknowledgments. It’s a young adult novel for ages 13 and up. I hope Sing On, Maine United! will be out this fall. Stay tuned and thanks.

Mystery Mountain-Plus

 We hiked Mystery up in Rumford Point. I hadn’t planned to do the whole thing, but one foot followed another, and there you are on the final cliff. My favorite pictures from the afternoon:

Dave Hanscom

                                           Dave

I met the legend, Dave Hanscom, this week. Dave and my oldest brother Allen have been lifelong friends who raised every kind chaos as boys in Rumford. They jumped The Suicide—a huge ski jump—as boys and upta camp attached two motors to our little boat. A champion XC racer and jumper on the junior national level and at Middlebury College, Dave has led an athlete’s life right into his 80’s. 

For thirty years, Dave led a huge Wasatch Citizen’s cross-county ski series. He’s written about back-country skiing around his home in Park City, Utah, and been inducted into several halls of fame. He’s now completing the phenomenal feat of hiking the highest point in every state. This week he hiked Mount Washington with his son, Greg. Dave’s a quiet, humble guy who’s living a large life. Remember Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day” and her final lines?

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?”

In Dave’s case, the answer has to be “just about everything.” 

Busy Summer

We’re at 91 hikes since Maggie arrived at the end of December. She’s calmer on the downhills now and has been gentle with hikers we meet who want to say hello. The other day on Mystery, we met six dogs. They were so nice and Maggie behaved beautifully. All that said, she still eats dirt, cigarette butts, spider webs, leaves, sticks, moths, and bugs. Last night she deposited a humongous toad on the back deck. On her tummy with her legs spread wide, she looked dead. When I returned with a broom, she had escaped… thank goodness.

Here are a collection of photos from some of our adventures in July and August (and the book has been typeset):