the Way of the Turtle

Coincidences
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I often stop at bookstores when I go somewhere distant for a race to check the "local interest" section for trail guides or other books about the outdoors that I might not see in my usual stomping grounds. OK, I admit it, I'm a book junkie. After Sunday's race I stopped at a Barnes & Noble just down the road from Shenipsit State Forest and picked up several books, including one called Loop Year, by John Sheirer, who spent every day for a year walking the same 2-mile trail near his home (and then wrote a 365 word essay for many of those days reflecting on his thoughts and experiences... hence the book.) Earlier in the week I started reading and was surprised to discover that the author is local to the area and the trail he walked, at the Northern CT Land Trust McCann Family Farm preserve, is not far from where I ran today. I also suspect I've met a couple of the people he mentions at various trail and snowshoe races. Overall, a very pleasant surprise... and I think I'm definitely going to have to check out the trail he hiked on one of my trips into Connecticut!

JMH