Give Yourself The Gift of Time

My 2009 cross-country trip yielded invitations to stay overnight in six different homes with people I met through online networking. After spending days on the road eating from my cooler and in restaurants and sleeping in hostels or budget motels, a home-cooked meal and a comfortable bed were welcome gifts.

What was even more precious was the gift they gave of themselves -- friendship and time, the time spent taking me to see the attractions in their world, a world I had not seen before.

During many of these outings, I would hear something to the effect that they had not been to a particular spot in a long time? And, I would hear my own voice, saying much the same thing when showing visitors around my home State of Connecticut. "This was so much fun, I wonder why I don't do this more often."

Why indeed? Why do we wait to enjoy an outing until we are called upon to be a gracious host? Are we not deserving enough to spend time doing the same thing just for us?

I know people who have lived in Connecticut for more than fifteen years and have yet to visit Mystic, one of the state's best-known tourist attractions. And as many years as I have spent day tripping in Connecticut prior to writing my book, there are still places on my "to see" list.

During this season of sunny days, let's give ourselves the gift of time, time to explore our world, time for the joyful discovery of all the best that your state, wherever that is, has to offer in the way of leisure-time activities. Leaving work and responsibilities behind, even for brief periods, revitalizes us in ways we cannot image. Traveling, even around our own neighborhood expands our world, giving us more clarity and insight, not only into that world, but ourselves.

Time and exploration, a gift we give ourselves.

 

Good News for Book Lovers

The Connecticut Author Trail (http://sites.google.com/site/connecticutauthortrail), a consortium of libraries in Eastern Connecticut, will host 16 local authors as they showcase their books and share their stories. I was pleased to be invited by the Lebanon Library to talk about my book, Cruising Connecticut with a Picnic Basket on July 21st and had an amazing experience. The event runs to September 24 when the finale takes place at The Mohegan Sun.

After my talk, the librarian gave me a packet of materials about Lebanon's beautiful and historic mile-long green, one of the largest in New England. The green is on the National Register of Historic Places because of its rich agricultural and Revolutionary War Heritage.

I heard about this green prior to my visit and intended to arrive one hour early so I could walk the path around the green and have a picnic supper, however, the weather did not cooperate. (What else is new!) So, it is now on my list of "Things to Do." I plan to start at The Lebanon Historical Society Museum and Visitors Center where there is an orientation video, library, shop and visitor information, and then visit any of six historic buildings clustered at the southerly end. In addition, many other buildings can be viewed along the trail.

Lebanon is a member of the Northeast Connecticut Visitors District known as the "Quiet Corner", and residents and visitors enjoy community activities on the green year-round. Check out this special place on http://www.historyoflebanon.org/.

I am constantly amazed that even with all my fervent Connecticut day tripping through the years, there are still so many exciting places I have yet to visit. But, first I will take a hiatus from Cruising Connecticut to cruise cross-country.

More about this upcoming adventure next week!