Hey All

Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. 

We're having outstanding weather and I can't get over how long fall has lasted this year. Just this week most of the leaves came down. Except of course those blasted pin oak leaves, which will hold on to their branches well into spring. I get to rake loads of leaves twice each year, spring and fall. Ah, the little gifts.

I'm one who does not have a strong attachment to goals. Oh, I can focus on occasion but, frankly, I'm a wanderer. Like the creek in my backyard, I rarely follow a straight line. I'm continually picking up new things that cross my path, carrying them with me for awhile, and discarding old things to the bank. My intent for this newsletter, if anything, is just to present the musings of a wandering woman. I've learned a lot about myself in this process of writing and from your feedback. I appreciate that feedback. Keep it coming! 

“The journey is the reward.” ~ Taoist saying

A special thanks to those of you who have passed this newsletter on to others.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, insights and understandings. deb@portagecoach.com

If you're anticipating a transition, personal or business, just give me a call at 231-879-4178 or 877-762-4178. 

Back to Contents
 

Night Walks

Lately, I've been taking longer than usual walks. I feel an urgency to wear the dogs and myself out before firearm deer season starts on November 15 and, for two weeks, we're confined to house and yard during the daylight hours. 

On November 15th, I’ll become a night walker, keeping my head down to avoid getting smacked in the face by an unseen branch. Sometimes, when I'm in particularly thick woods, I turn my headlamp on. But I prefer to travel at night without it. I like the mystery. Without sight, sound and smell become more acute. I pick my way along the creek by listening to the water's flow. I judge the distance I've traveled by the smell of the familiar cedar trees and swamps along the creek. 

When there is some moonlight, just enough to see shapes beyond the immediate three feet in front of me, the trip becomes even more interesting as my mind becomes more engaged. The small white pine branch gently waving in the breeze becomes something else in my mind. Is it man or beast? Is it watching me? Could it be following me? 

Not long after we begin our walk, the dogs move on ahead and well out of the range of my senses. They don't have the dependence on sight that hinders my night travel. Sometimes, they are led by their noses in a big circle and come back to me from behind. I stand frozen as I hear their thundering approach and it takes me a few seconds to interpret what has happened.

Unlike the day, when blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees and ravens fill the woods with sounds, night is for the owl. One will call close by and the other will return the call from a distance, both cries echoing off the steep banks of the creek. 

Occasionally a tree will fall. It happens infrequently enough that it takes me a few minutes to calm myself and remember that the beaver, like the owl, are night workers. 

A quivering pine branch, the rustling of leaves behind me, a falling tree, and the hooting of a couple of great horned owls are the perfect formula for a messy mind to create all kinds of mystery and peril. But there's nothing to do but go on. I'm in the middle of it now and going back will not be less difficult than moving forward. 

And finally there are lights. It's the hunting camp of my friends who have been coming north for the last 40 years to hunt the woods just south of my house. Another passage into the unknown has been navigated successfully and I'm rewarded by warmth and friends. I’ll visit for awhile, rest and enjoy the campfire. Then the dogs and I will follow the two-track back to my home. 

As I reach the end of that two-track and cross the open field that leads to my house, I'm awed by the beauty of that field at night. On a night with at least some moon and a slight breeze, the lichen glistens like pools of silver and the dead grasses bend to those silvery pools as though drinking nectar.

I sometimes wonder why I choose to start my walk through the woods along the creek, picking my way, when this perfectly good two-track can easily serve as a way to accomplish dog walking after dark and avoid the dangers, both real and imagined, in the dark woods. But I know the truth about myself. I love the mystery and the unknown of the woods at night. And, truth be told, the adrenaline isn't bad either. I feel so much more awake and alive when I reach that campfire. It's just two weeks in November. I’ll recover.

Get to know a place in the wilds. Get to know it well by day. Then experience it at night and get to know yourself anew.

“Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That and surprise.” ~Julia Cameron

“Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.” ~R. I. Fizhenry

Back to Contents

Peace and much love
Deb
 

The Fine Print
A Note About My Recommendations
I provide links in this newsletter to products and services I am offering or I have personally found valuable. With some of them, I have an affiliate agreement. If you are ever disappointed with one of these recommendations, please let them and me know. If they don't make it right, I will.

Help me stay with you. If you are enjoying Portage, please protect your subscription. If your email address is about to change, please remember to visit my home page and subscribe your new address. And if your email service automatically deletes large broadcasts like this one, let them know you want Portage from Deborah Martin to come through.

If you find value in Portage please pass it along and ask your friends to subscribe. Thank You.

Portage is published 12 times a year and distributed monthly by e-mail. Comments, submissions and suggestions are welcome. Please feel free to forward any or all of this newsletter to those you know will appreciate it and encourage them to subscribe for themselves.

Although this material is subject to copyright, please feel free to reprint this publication, in whole or in part, in your company publication, in training, presentations, or wherever you feel it would be of benefit. This also holds true for members of the media. All I ask is that you use the following credit line: Reprinted with permission from Deborah Martin of Portage at http://www.portagecoach.com

The names of newsletter subscribers will never be shared or sold.

Copyright 2005, all rights reserved.