Return visit to Orris Falls with Windows to the Wild

Click on the image to see the preview.

Click on the image to see the preview.

Early in January, 2017, I enjoyed a chilly morning to Orris Falls Conservation Area with Windows to the Wild host Willem Lange and producers Steve Giordani and Phil Vaughn. The resulting show, titled “The Maniacal Traveler” is scheduled for broadcast on New Hampshire Public Television on February 15, 2017 at 7:30, with repeat broadcasts on Sunday, 2/19. See the full schedule here. (Eventually NHPTV will archive the show here).

The show is based upon my earlier post, Travels on the White Rose Road to Orris Falls, a post that highlights the hiking within South Berwick’s Orris Falls Conservation Area, owned by the Great Works Regional Land Trust. Nineteenth-century writer Sarah Orne Jewett wrote a lovely piece about an afternoon ride on what she called the White Rose Road, including a visit to the lonely farmhouse of Daniel Littlefield.

We could feel a keen sense of Littlefield’s isolation on the January morning of the filming. Although I was verging on hypothermia by the session’s end (due to misplaced optimism about the temperatures), it was great fun to spend the morning with Willem (80+ years old) and producers Steve and Phil.  Crafting a 26-minute show, it turns out, isn’t so different from crafting a blog post, except that the on-site process takes longer (and probably the editing as well). It’s all about stitching words and images together to tell a story.

I recently wrote another post, Searching for the lost village of Punkintown, about another wonderful patch of land in Eliot that Great Works helped to conserve in the 1990s. For more on hikes in the Seacoast region of Maine and New Hampshire, see the tab, “Hiking: 4k and more,” at the top of the page.

 

Heads up: The Maniacal Traveler is coming!

Standing on the summit of Mount Washington earlier this winter.  Temps minus 20ish.  Do I look maniacal?

Standing on the summit of Mount Washington earlier this winter. Temps minus 20ish. Do I look maniacal?

This winter, renaming my blog has been on my t0-do list.  “Random History and Offbeat Trivia” was always a placeholder for me, a starting point, since I firmly believe that it’s always better to begin a journey than to wait for the perfect moment, or perfect blog title.

Thus, as a preview, I now introduce “The Maniacal Traveler.” The next time you see this blog, “The Maniacal Traveler” will be the title (I think….).  It’s still me, so please don’t banish me to your junk mail.

I’ve been making lists all winter, trying to capture the “essence” of my blog and my writing.  I also wanted a title that is unique and catchy.  If you google “Random History,” at least a dozen sites will pop up, none of them mine. But I haven’t found a single site called “The Maniacal Traveler.”

I don't always have a drink in hand, but my mother, sister, and I celebrated an excellent meal together at an adventure in Boston. The drink concoction was called a "Hot Tub"and it was maniacally good.

I don’t always have a drink in hand, but my mother, sister, and I celebrated an excellent meal together at an adventure in Boston. The drink concoction was called a “Hot Tub”and it was maniacally good.

Besides being a little bit of a pun on Maine, The Maniacal Traveler can cover a lot of ground, including travel of all kinds, time travel/history, and mind travel (as in random musings).

I also like the idea of mania because sometimes I do get a bit maniacal about organizing and planning adventures.  And I think Maniacal Traveler has that “edginess” that may grab the attention of internet readers while simultaneously transforming maniacal from a sinister word (as in maniacal killer) to one that celebrates a mania for living every day to the fullest.

Plus, wouldn’t the world be a better place with more maniacal readers, writers, hikers, and travelers?

The snow is about three feet deep in the mountains, but it won't be long before I can start doing some maniacal hiking. These steep ladders climb straight up Mt. Willey.

The snow is about three feet deep in the mountains, but it won’t be long before I can start doing some maniacal hiking. These steep ladders climb straight up Mt. Willey.

Right now I feel especially manic with my writing and traveling.  My files are full of drafts about Thin Mints, Alaska, friendships, hiking, and history.  I’m also maniacally copyediting my book, Pioneer on a Mountain Bike, which will be published later this spring by Piscataqua Press.  Add in a pending visit from a Japanese exchange student, my first stress test/echocardiogram, and a good dose of spring skiing, and “The Maniacal Traveler” definitely feels right.  So does a nap.

Your thoughts and feedback on this name change are much appreciated.  The Maniacal Traveler promises she won’t come stalking.