Life Post-Facebook…
all photos by rus vanwestervelt, 4/24/11, Goucher College, Towson, MD I am free, liberated from the grip of out-of-control social networking. I severed my ties with Facebook early this afternoon, turned off my computer, and headed out for a 2-mile hike along the trails on Goucher’s campus. This is not the first time I have [...]
Returning to the tight-knit community
loch raven reservoir. art: http://www.artofabbey.net/ Last month, I sketched out a monthly hiking plan that would send me all around the state, tackling some of the trails that I’ve never been on. This strategy was in line with my bigger project of dropping the weight and leading a more healthy, active lifestyle. Well, the good [...]
Coming together
(photo: Taken July 4, 2010, Rus VanWestervelt) I feel like there’s been some kind of explosion in my life, a bursting of energy that is giving me strength like never before. I am finding the strength to write, to exercise, to journey, to live. It could just be that I have the time to do [...]
It’s all coming back…
Really, it is. Your provide a little space in your life, some breathing room, some opportunity for clarity, and the reason why we’re here presents itself….clearly. I’ve spent most of the weekend NOT running here or there, grading this or that, but rather reading, writing, biking, spending time with old friends, family, and some new [...]
Sunrise ride by the Gunpowder River
Absolutely love sunrises when hiking or biking…. My friend T and I went to Gunpowder State Park along Jerusalem Rd. in Kingsville, MD this morning to check out the trails that rise and fall along the Gunpowder River. We were wonderfully surprised by the well-maintained trails (the Gunpowder and Hobbes trails) that formed a nice [...]
Fire on the Ice: Winter Cycling on the NCR Trail
(all photos taken with my Blackberry Curve this morning) One of the things I’ve always enjoyed doing is confronting nature’s elements head-on. It’s one of the quickest ways to feel as alive as I possibly can. Thoreau put it this way in “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden: I went to [...]
Returning Home
I know that, for each of us, the title of this post means something a little different. And I am sure, as well, that nearly immediately after reading the title, you thought a little to yourself what that means: Returning home. For me, I did that yesterday morning, just a little after sunrise, on the [...]
Just Writing
I welcome January with a busy pen, scribbling in various daybooks, laptops, napkins, notecards, and Moleskine notebooks. Whatever I can get my hands on, really. My writing has been furious, immediate, thoughtful, raw, superficial, deep. I’ve scribbled lousy lines of verse and brilliant slices of life without self-condemnation or overzealous praise. I am, in every [...]
My Doc — He’s a Funny Guy
(The following is a mostly fictitious account of actual events that have occurred over a pretty lengthy time. However, in my mind, this is how I have restructured those events to convince me that I need to get real serious, right now, about my weight loss.) I went to see my doctor, and the news [...]
Blueberries for Us
Blueberries for Sal….Do you remember reading this book when you were younger? I have wonderful memories of my mother reading this book to me before I had learned to read. I remember asking her to read it over and over again so I could memorize the text that went along with the pictures. I wish [...]



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