I'm Goin For It. A blog for body, mind & spirit. Real hope for real recovery. All content Copyright 2010. www.SkipTreaster.com
About Skip: A Work In Progress...
My 7th grade teacher Mr. McElhoe often said, “Fools names and fools faces are always seen in public places.” If there’s any truth to that, I should probably be feeling pretty darn foolish by now. When I check for my name on Google or Bing, I seem to pop up quite a bit in “public places.” (How some of you have managed to fly under the radar and avoid the search results is a real mystery to me!) Anyway, much of my life is already “out there’ in Cyberspace. And yet, not much of it is particularly indicative of what this old fool is really all “about.”
That being said, here’s a quick collection of background bits and pieces, achievements and high points of my life, for what it may be worth. I’ve traveled far from my roots in rural central Pennsylvania (northern Appalachia / Pennsylvania Dutch country) where I once
enjoyed wandering the back roads and paths of that idyllic countryside. Those times instilled a deep love of nature,
hiking and camping
which have only
grown through the
years, along with a
strong sense of
wanderlust that
continually yearns
for new adventures.
Maybe I will see you
out there on a trail
some day. So keep
on hiking, and many
Happy Trails to you,
Kimo Sabes!
(photo copyrighted) iStock
“Let me forever go in search of myself.” – Henry David Thoreau
Life with Bipolar Disorder (and there's a whole lot more to my life than Bipolar) is a series of highs and lows. Fortunately, with therapy, meds, coping skills, family, and friends, it's not always been a continuous rollercoaster ride. As I continue down that road to recovery, things in many ways are getting smoother every day. Life is good. I've been blessed with many wonderful opportunities and experiences, which I may not have otherwise had. There's a boldness, perhaps, in having BPD. A short time before he passed away, my father commented to me, "You don't live an ordinary life, do you?" (I took that as a compliment!) So here is a rather random gallery of some of my high points.
I met my lovely wife Zenda (left) on a blind date in 1986, and we got engaged on a hike (above) the next year. We've been avid hikers ever since. (Zenda is part Native American, part Scandanavian, ... and totally awesome!)
One of our most exciting treks was to Alaska, and
staying at Katishna Lodge in the Denali Wilderness.
(This may be one of my favorite photos I've taken.)
We love exploring the Old Growth forests
of the Northwest. (This is an Oregon trail.)
And we also enjoy exploring the deserts of the Southwest (An old mining ranch.)
Landing on a glacier on Denali was
an adventure of a lifetime! We'd do
it again, yes, in a skinny minute!
I took this picture of an ancient pine tree (at left) on the John Muir Trail in Yosemite. Part
of a family trip there. Looking to do a camp
trip there again sometime soon!
Last year Zenda and I were both
featured on the cover of BP Hope
(Bipolar Magazine.) (She was very
bald at the time from her chemo.)
Here we are exploring the upper Tonto ruins at Roosevelt Lake, in Arizona. Quite a hike, but a great view. We spent a summer living / working at the lake in 1992 or thereabouts.
From time to time I get inspired and I make hiking sticks, inset with rocks or turquoise. I've had my own stick ever since I proposed to Zenda in 1987.
Our handsome "son" --
Dakota, who talks. Yes.
What a good boy he is!
Our humble abode in Arizona. We
are so fortunate to have lived in
some pretty neat / unusual places.
We lived oceanfront on the bay in Depoe Bay, Oregon. Watched a lot of whales!
And we managed this popular B&B just up the street in Depoe Bay. (Hard work!)
But fun work, too. We enjoyed it.
We were treated to a really great cruise to Mexico when the B&B closed for the Holidays. Bon voyage!
We enjoyed this southwestern style home in Tucson, too. It survived both a lightening strike and a drive-by shooting. And so did we. (The Wild West can get just a bit too wild, sometimes!)
And speaking of the Wild West... this place at Vermilion Cliffs, AZ, was on the boundary of the wilderness, and at the edge of the Navajo reser- vation. We had some great times out here!
I lived for a while in this handmade house and art studio, built by a very interesting French chef, in Atlanta, Georgia. Cool.
This was home for Zenda and me when we were first married in Marietta, Georgia. Then we took off on a lark for Arizona... Ye-haw!
Back to Vermilion Cliffs, AZ. One of my shining moments was discovering this old petroglyph. It dates back to an encampment of the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776. Stumbled upon it!
At far left, a favorite window in another house I lived in in Atlanta. At center, me beaming over
the heart and cross petroglyph I'd found. And,
above, on another trek to the heart and cross.
Along the West Fork Oak Creek Canyon Trail near Sedona,
Arizona -- one of our all-time favorite hiking trails.
Along a trail in Alaska in early Fall, with the blueberry bushes bright red. We saw some grizzlies on this trip!
As you can probably tell by now, Zenda and I absolutely love being out in Nature. It is surely good medicine as she continues
in her couragous 5-year battle with cancer.
This year we will have participated in our third annual NAMI Walk -- to help raise funds and awareness for the National Association on Mental Illness.
One of our real treats came in 1995, when I ended up in front of 6,000,000 viewers on "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee" as a finalist in their big "Dynamite Desserts" contest. My entry for "Outlaw Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce" took the cake, er, uh, won the Grand Prize! An 8-day trip to Hawaii for the two of us (complete with limo services, snorkel cruises, massages and all expenses paid) plus a $1,000 gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma! Wow... did I get lucky with that one! What a "frabjous" trip!
(If you're interested in my recipe, just email me and I'll be happy to send it out to you. Really!)
"Outlaw"
Skip
Eight delightful days at the Mauna Lani Resort!
Thanks, Regis!
