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Lessons
From
The
Creek Adventure
Retreat
Leader
And just
in case you want to hire me for a coaching/fishing adventure, you can
find me hanging around...  Cameron Lake Fishing Lodges, Inc.  Ituksum Wilderness Camp |
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Portage
 March 2011 Newsletter In This Issue...
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| Welcome Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. If you find value, please pass this along to others you feel might appreciate my writing. You can subscribe to this newsletter at my website, Portage. Or, stop by my Lessons From The Creek Blog where you can subscribe to these posts and more. My intent for this newsletter, if anything, is just to present the musings of a wandering woman in a way that might inspire you. Sometimes I wander in a circle and come right back to where I started. Sometimes I go off on a tangent and later see my own footprints as I find myself crossing my trail with a contradiction. And sometimes I trip over my own boot laces! It's not my place to tell you what you must do and why. My writing is just an invitation for you to take a look for yourself. Enjoy! Things are lightening up! With March, we have more light. The sun increasingly rises above the tree tops around my home. Critters are sticking their noses out of burrows, dens, holes, brush piles and woodpiles and taking good long sniffs of the air. Winter is hanging on this year with another 12 inches of snow just last weekend. Yet gone are the dreary days as we celebrate the light that now holds some tints of color and a warmth around midday that makes promises of more to come. My furry and feathered friends and I are happy. How about you? Back to Contents Over The Top There is still a couple of feet of snow around my home. I’m not complaining. We need the moisture. But since December I have lived by the path. The path, that is, to the compost pile and the woodpile, the bird feeder, the fire pit, and my well-worn path along the creek. The paths have become beautiful as the March wind carves striking lines and shapes in the snow. The banks, and the paths, and the piles have flowing and crisp edges. The pin oaks are finally giving up the leaves they have held on to all winter. I beg them to drop their leaves in the fall, making cleanup needed only once each year. But they ignore me. My paths are full of leaves. The wind blows them down the paths and they huddle together in the dips and curves as though they were little brown creatures scurrying to get out of my way.  And now comes the fleeting warm ups when the temperatures rise just a little above freezing for short spurts during the day. It’s perfect Maple Syrup weather when moisture locks up tight on cold nights and then flows freely for even just a few hours during midday. For months now, the way of the path was my limited walking world. But I have become flighty with the new freedom the contrasting warm and cold temperatures have given me on my morning walks. As the snow warms up each day and then freezes hard each night, a crust is created that can support me. If I rise and get out early enough, I’m free to go anywhere I please. Just this month, I've hiked over bushes that would grab at my clothing and snarl me up any other time of year. I've walked on water over the creek. I've run down slopes that, in the summer, have so much dead fall I’d surly break a limb on my way down. And I've walked over the marshes and swamps, knowing there are all kinds of critters underneath my steps waiting for Spring. What a contrast to my path routine. I’m free, unconfined, and able to move quickly. March is warm sun on my face and cold wind at my back, serious enough to freeze my toes and frivolous enough to encourage me to take myself over the top. "Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush." ~Doug Larson Back to Contents Adventure and Retreat Leader A resource for coaches, speakers, authors and writers, educators, practitioners and all heart- and nature-based entrepreneurs and professionals who want to offer outings, adventures and retreats as a profitable part of their business. Let us help you...Take It Outside! You will learn:
Back to Contents The Fine Print A Note About My Recommendations Occasionally I provide links in this newsletter to products and services I am offering or have personally found valuable. 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. You can subscribe to this newsletter by visiting the subscription box on my home page at Portage. If you find value in Portage, please pass it along and ask friends to subscribe. Thank You. Help me stay with you. If your email address is about to change, please visit Portage and subscribe your new address. And if your email service automatically deletes large broadcasts like this one, let them know that you want Portage from Deb Martin to come through. Portage is published about 12 times a year and distributed monthly by email. Comments, submissions and suggestions are welcome. Although this material is subject to copyright, you may reprint this publication in whole or in part in your company publication, presentations, training, or wherever you feel it may be valued. This also holds true for members of the media. All I ask is that you include the following: Reprinted with permission from Deborah Martin of Portage at http://www.portagecoach.com If you would like a short bio, I am happy to provide one. Copyright© 2011 by Deborah Martin. All rights reserved. |