Facing Our Fears by Robin Janney

Jaclyn loves going along on rides with us!

Talk about a tough act to follow!  After reading C.P.'s post from last week, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how I could even begin to match her excellent post!  She and I have vastly different lives and sometimes I feel so booooring! I work a demanding full time job, and don't even have children so I can't share any anecdotes of that nature.  I have a husband and a dog.  Granted, Jaclyn's a cute dog...and a perpetual toddler in many ways.

As I thought about it, C.P.'s delightful post was about a common motherly fear of lettering the first child leave the nest.  While it is something I can't identify with, I have my own fears.

One I do share with my writing cohort and that is neither one of us is fond of public speaking.  Give me a script and ask me to act out a character, and I am all for it!  I love being in plays or skits, though I haven't been for years.  Oddly enough for a woman of my size, I once belonged to a church dance group.  But ask me to be myself in front of people, regardless of whether I know them or not, and my heart starts doing double time!  In fact, in tenth grade I was so afraid of getting up in front of my classmates that I reused to give a mandatory speech for English class.  If I didn't do it, I wouldn't pass the tenth grade.  In the end, I was allowed to give it to just the English teacher in the principal's office on the last day of school.  It was enough to allow that wall to begin to come down; in fact, for eleventh grade not only did I give the speech for that year with no problem, but managed to be so persuading about mental abuse being a legitimate form of abuse that I was called into the school's Guidance Office to make sure I was okay!!

Stronger together!

Back on the 5th, when C.P. and I gave our presentation at the library, I had the stray thought that my tenth grade teacher would have been so proud of me.  She is no longer with us, so if those who have passed on into another life are truly aware of current events, it may well be that she is. And no doubt, she delights in the irony of it.  She was a great lover of irony in storytelling.

She may have despaired over my actual execution of my side of the presentation, but she would have been proud nonetheless.

There is strength in numbers, and together C.P. and I pulled it off.  There was a decent crowd that day, not too many and not too few.  More chairs were filled than empty.  We fielded some good questions afterward, which was it's own satisfaction.  It's always nice to know that people are genuinely interested in what you're talking about.  Not like those days back in school when not only were we required to give speeches, but we were also required to listen to the speeches of our classmates.  There were even a few 'after' questions, when the time was up and the people began to disperse except for the few that wanted to talk to us one on one.  I can only hope we were able to clear up the one gentleman's belief that Kindle Direct Publishing charges us for our self-publication!

Over on my own blog, I touched on one of my other fears.  Last summer, in my first attempt to operate one of my in-laws four wheelers, I managed to run myself over with the machine.  No, really, I did.  I took a turn too sharp and hit a pile of logs hidden in the high grass of their field.  It threw me off balance, and dummy me put a foot on the ground in a futile attempt steady the machine.  Not my brightest moment.  I ended up falling off the machine, with my leg getting tangles up with the foot rest and the back tire ran my ankle over.  I did one smart thing though, I got back on the machine and drove it back down to the trailer so that I could get a better idea at my injuries.  Largely just bruised, although the side of my leg was sorely scraped by the foot rest.  I am truly lucky I didn't snap my neck when I fell.

All set to ride...

For the rest of the summer, I only rode behind Mr. Janney when we went out for rides.  But fears are meant to be faced.  This past Saturday was a delightful day here in NE PA.  The weather was beautiful, as it is today on Sunday as I begin this post.  Sunshiny and warm.  Neither Mr. Janney or I wanted to stay indoors and we spent most of the day outside up to his parents.  And yes, once again I got back on the beast that had dumped me and I rode it around.

And had a blast!  I zipped up and down the field you see behind me in the picture I've shared.  Well, ten miles per hour may not seem like much in a car, but on a four wheeler it was enough for me!  Sometimes I did reach as high as fifteen and twenty.  I followed my husband as he broke me into easy forest trails. The end goal of all this is to get me comfortable enough on the machines so that I can go on the mountain trails with him.  I doubt I will ever be as bold as he is; the times that I've ridden double with him in the past, he's taken some pretty harrowing trails.

Thankfully, he was smart enough to keep it easy on Saturday.  I trusted him to remember that I was a newb and he did.  And then his parents came home and his father joined us in our fun.  And my sense of adventure, which is tentative at best, was put to the test.  Father Janney wanted to know if his son had taken me on any of the mountain trails yet.  The answer was no, not solo. We'd gone up early riding double, but even then we hadn't gone all the way up.  So it was that Father Janney talked me into taking on the mountain.  Being the beginner, I was placed in the middle.  He would lead and my husband would follow behind.  All I had to do was follow his tracks.

Easier said than done!

Especially when the trail we were on was rocky in places!

But I did it!!

It may not seem like much to some, but for this country raised girl who wasn't raised with any kind of ATV's, it was a proud moment.  And let me tell you, going UP the mountain was far easier than coming back DOWN!  Some part of the trail were steep, and the angle was a bit intimidating. I can't help being afraid, I will almost always be afraid of height's...but I can decide how I'm going to handle that fear.  It won't rule my life.  It won't stop me from having fun and learning new things!

Just waiting for all this to turn green!!

Part of me regrets not taking my phone along with me on my rides, so that I could have captured some impressive scenery.  We saw at least two deer on our first trail, and when we were out with Father Janney we saw a grouse in the brush.  And the view from that high up, without leaves on the trees...wow, just wow.  The pic that I've posted is a portion of their lower fields, the easiest part of the rides.  But the other part of me loved being free from my phone for the afternoon.  Indeed, I barely went on Facebook at all yesterday, even before we arrived at his parents.  And it was wonderful!!  Maybe next time I'll take the camera along and see if I can't capture some of that awe inspiring serenity.  Maybe...  ;)


What about you, dear readers?  What fears have you overcome?  What fears do you still battle?

Bobcats, Coyotes, and Bears, Oh My! By C.P. Stringham

The woods and gorge behind my parents' house with the beautiful waterfalls. 

As some of you know, I’ve been on this healthier me lifestyle since June 2013. As it turns out, sitting with fingers flying madly over a keyboard doesn’t really burn calories throughout the workday. I know. Shocking. No one was more disappointed than I was. If you didn’t see my blog regarding my progress, here’s the link to Holidays, Damn Holidays. Since January’s almost daily 2.5 mile-excursion around The Matterhorn began, I’ve kicked up the difficulty level. Yes, after conquering the steepest part of the hike without stopping to rest and catch my breath (or throw up,) I began jogging or running along some of the downhill and flat sections. It has been amazing! Something I never thought I could achieve. The feeling of accomplishment was almost euphoric. I’d never before felt that from exercising. Instead of being exhausted and in absolute pain, I was ready to take on the world. Me, the fatty, leaving Paralegal Jenn and The Rage in the dust!

My oldest and me on 2-14-14 during our trek

around The Matterhorn. Would I use her 

for bear bait?! 

And leaving them in the dust was all well and good until the day my brother joined us for our hike—he does that from time to time over the weekends now that he’s dating Paralegal Jenn. On one recent Saturday, my oldest daughter joined us as well. She and I quickly took the lead by powerwalking our keisters off. At midpoint, we began picking up our pace by jogging and, at times, running to keep our heart rates up. A few times along the way, we chased beautiful deer and the scene was most idyllic. Very Wild Kingdom meets Chariots of Fire.  We made it back a full 10 minutes before the others. My best time yet at a little over a half hour for 2.5 miles. It was a champion moment…until Paralegal Jenn returned with the others and shared part of their conversation. When the first group of deer crossed our path ahead of us, my brother jokingly told the others that he would laugh his @ss off if we drove a bear out of the woods and it crossed the road in front of me. Not funny. It actually scared the bejeezus out of me because this is something that could totally happen in Bradford County. We have wildlife aplenty. Suddenly, being out in front and breaking time records no longer appealed to me.

Trail camera shots from my friend Penny Wood's backyard
shows her nighttime visitors; deer and coyotes.

Bradford County ranks right up there as one of the most rural counties in Pennsylvania. I’m sure there are a few ahead of us, but I would wager we’re in the top five. As part of the Endless Mountains region, we have dense woodlands and a fair share of farmland pastures. Before the natural gas industry invaded our tranquil part of the world, most dirt roads saw very little traffic—a few locals commuting to and from work, maybe a school van picking up or dropping off students too far out for a bus to get them, and an afternoon cruise by the local postal carrier. This is rush hour country-style. Our county has a wide assortment of wildlife: oodles and oodles of whitetail deer, a huge resurgence of birds of prey from bald eagles to red-tailed hawks, Eastern coyotes, bobcats, and black bears. I don’t care who you are, the first time you see one of those last three in your yard, your adrenaline level raises a tad. My parents live further out than I do. There’s nothing like having a relaxing evening out on their deck, chatting, taking in the sunset, when the coyotes start howling and yipping from the mountain gorge behind their house. I swear to God, every hair stands on end—even though you are completely safe. It’s chilling. A bobcat’s screech has got to be one of the most blood-curdling sounds of the wild. Another hair-raising event beyond compare is when you have your house windows open to catch a summer night’s breeze, when all of a sudden, it 

Bobcat trail camera photo in East Smithfield, PA.
(Photo by Bruce Learn)

sounds like a woman is being brutally attacked nearby. That's what a bobcat sounds like. No lie, the first time that happened two summers ago, I couldn’t get our windows closed fast enough…and I may have peed myself a little. Just a little. It was really freaky. Another time, my husband and I had just put the garbage out after dinner. We’d dined on Bernie Murray’s regionally famous Buffalo chicken wings. Something truly odiferous. Any animal with a strong olfactory lobe in a ten-mile-radius could probably smell them. We went to bed that night only to be woken up at 11PM to a scratching noise from outside. 
            

A bald eagle eating carrion. (Photo by Andrea Shaul)

The Husband told me it was probably a raccoon or opossum. He got up to chase them off. Upon turning on the back door porch light, he was greeted by the biggest black bear we’d ever seen in person. His head seemed to fill up the half-window of the door. The scene from John Candy’s film The Great Outdoors played out in my mind. Granted it wasn’t a bald-headed grizzly bear like in the movie, it was still incredibly unsettling. Seriously, the only thing between us and Smokey Bear was a piece of glass. Thankfully, we were able to chase him off and avoided further repeats by not putting garbage out at night.

                            Remember this scene from The Great Outdoors?

Bear about town in Troy, PA. "May I borrow a cup of sugar please?" (Photos by Cheri Thomas)

Running into THIS isn't an option!
But would I hide behind my duaghter?
(Image from internet search)

Getting back to my brother’s comment, the thought of running into a bear never crossed my mind. At least with walking and making noise (because the ladies and I are known to chat during our walks,) bears will usually try to avoid humans and scamper away. Running alone leaves too much opportunity for a surprise approach. Here it is spring and the bears will be waking up after their winter-long siestas. That also means momma bears are waking up with their new cubs or yearling cubs. The idea of crossing a momma bear kinda scares me beyond belief. I’m not good in emergency situations. I’d never be able to remember to drop and play dead—well, unless I died of an actual bear confrontation-related heart attack. And then it wouldn’t matter. Or worse yet. What if I turned into the worst sort of coward and hid behind my seventeen year-old daughter?! Some mother! That night, I had this realistic nightmare where such a confrontation occurred. Needless to say, running ahead is no longer part of my exercise routine. Instead, Paralegal Jenn and I have increased our distance from 2.5 miles a day to five by adding an extra lap. It’s all good. My hearts happy, my skinny-ass doctor will be happy, and, most importantly, Momma Bear will be happy.

Needless to say, living up in Bradford County means we have our fair share of sportsmen. A time honored rite of passage through the generations, hunting season is a time for hunting camps, camaraderie, and respect for the animals they hunt. Many of the locals are quick to share their bounty with neighbors helping to make sure no one goes hungry.  Here are a few great shots my friends supplied me with for today's blog:

  

Bill Thomas shot this glorious 10-point trophy buck with a 19 7/8" spread in Springfield Township, PA.
(Photo by Cheri Thomas)