Reflection and Reminiscing: 2019

December 26, 2019

2019 was full of amazing adventures!

Honestly, I always want to share everything I learn after discovering new places, but this year was so busy it was difficult for me to keep up.

Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Canada. A couple layovers in London, and a drive through Slovenia.

Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado. A couple layovers in Detroit, MI, and a drive through Vermont & New Hampshire.

All I wanted in the beginning of the year was enough snow to go snowshoeing, but I hurt my foot in January and was pretty much immobile for half of January and most of February. Frustrating.

Another frustrating thing I’ve had to deal with for most of the year is allergies. It’s dumb, and even more frustrating than I could have ever imagined. It has affected me greatly and I’m so very tired.

That’s life though, and I know how fortunate I am that these are my only complaints.

On a positive note, two awesome things that happened this year is I finished getting my bite and teeth fixed, and I celebrated being with Nathan for 20 years!

2019 was full of traveling adventures and attending live shows. I did a little bit of hiking and exploring as well as continued learning French, sewing bags, crafting books, and planning for future travels.

Also, I spent a fair amount of quality time with my cats.

Hopefully the pictures I chose for 2019 will tell some of the stories I’ve been wanting to share.

The Year in Pictures

January

Saratoga Springs, New York

Hayes Well Spring, Saratoga Spa State Park.

My severely sprained ankle. So frustrating.

February

Worcester, Massachusetts

Me in front of a stone griffin who once stood guard at the original Worcester Union Station (1875).

March

Saratoga Springs, New York

I am the most unremarkable person.
In my waking hours I feel a perpetual panic.

the fear of being forgotten
An Existential Crisis

in a fleeting moment of reverie
I tripped over death.

Embraced by the silence
I felt a calm elation
Reveling in my own existence

in this place time doesn’t exist
Sweet Solitude

just beyond my reach
utterly hidden in plain sight
I saw you at the edge of winter
drinking in the sun
stoic, beautiful, silent

I saw you smiling in a moment of knowing
Excited to show me what was beyond my realm

I must admit, I hesitated.
I had been there before.

A place of perfection.

The decision has always been mine.
but somehow suffering is preferable.

your expression was so solemn.
and in my moment of doubt you disappeared

Sometimes I hear your distant song, calling me
Sadly, in my world I cannot find you

Some people call you Wisdom.
but you never told me your name.

Copyright © 2019 Alicen K. Hutcheson. All rights reserved.

I wrote this poem, inspired by my little Barred Owl.
Regularly through the winter, I watched him sunbathe on an old tree stump outside my sewing room window.

It broke my heart the day he died. I didn’t know he needed my help. I learned that owls get poisoned by eating poisoned prey, like mice.

Personally, I had never considered that birds of prey could inadvertently get poisoned, because I myself would never use poison to kill mice. I’m sensitive.
Plus, my cats do like to eat them when the mice are brazen enough to be seen.

Barred Owls mate for life and breed in the winter. The male hunts. The female keeps the nest safe.

I was so full of sorrow for the owl’s wife. Her husband never came home, and she didn’t know where he was.

In the spring, as the naked trees began growing their seasonal green attire, my husband and I saw a little Barred Owl in a tree near the old tree stump.

Cohoes, New York

April

Schuylerville, New York

Catskill Mountains, New York

Another birthday hike to Kaaterskill Falls. Happy 43rd birthday to me!

Laughing at myself. Snow and ice was everywhere and I was hiking in my t-shirt almost immediately.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

May

Albany, New York

I asked my oral surgeon, “Can I take a photo of my x-ray?”

Great Oak Oral Surgery & Dental Implant Center.

Fort Ann, New York

Bear Mountain State Park, New York

Long Island City, New York

June

Sparrow Bush, New York

Saratoga Springs, New York

My teeth and bite are finally fixed and finished!! June 12th

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Munich, Germany

Salzburg, Austria

Werfen, Austria

My travel companions and I outside of Eisriesenwelt.

Abtenau, Austria

I love Primordial! (Photo taken by Becky).

Our last day on the mountain. #whiteshirtsunday

Kanfanar, Croatia

Rovinj, Croatia

Pula, Croatia

Venice, Italy

Sirmione, Italy

Group selfie at Scaligero Castle, Lake Garda.

Verona, Italy

Me leaving Verona! It was uncomfortably hot…

July

Brooklyn, New York

Nathan and I on the Pulaski Bridge going into Brooklyn.

Jersey City, New Jersey

View of Downtown Manhattan from Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.

Chatham, New York

Saratoga Springs, New York

Yaddo Gardens

August

Saratoga Springs, New York

Me with “Lucky Penny” outside of Saratoga Gaming & Racing.

Otisfield, Maine

A Visit From My Sister Rebekah

My sister came to visit with her husband and youngest son and I took them all over New York!

Saratoga Springs, NY

I took her to all the parks in town that have natural springs!

Schuylerville, NY

Victory, NY

Lake George, NY

New York City, NY

Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was so great to share bits of New York with my sister and her family, I didn’t want it to ever end.

September

Provincetown, Massachusetts

Corinth, New York

Spruce Mountain Elevation: 2,005 feet.

Spruce Mountain Fire Tower is 73 feet tall.

Me & Nathan at the top of the tower! 1st time my husband went to the top of a fire tower!

October

Amsterdam, New York

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Monument Mountain Elevation: 1,642 feet.

Denver, Colorado

Red Rocks Park – Trading Post Trail

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Estes Park, Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park

Nathan & I at Many Parks Curve Overlook.

Group selfie at Rainbow Curve at the end of our Rocky Mountain National Park adventure.

Hancock, Massachusetts

View from Route 20, near the Taconic Crest Trail.

Cohoes, New York

A view of the Mohawk River from Peebles Island.

Montreal, Quebec

Me and my husband outside Piranha Bar, October 31.

Nathan and I traveled up to Canada to celebrate our 20 year anniversary on Halloween. It was an evening of relentless wind and rain, but I had an amazing time with my husband doing what we love doing most, traveling and listening to live music!

November

Montreal, Quebec

Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal

Looking up before entering the Basilica.

Le séminaire de Saint-Sulpice, built in the 17th century.

The Sculpture Garden

Liverpool, New York

Onondaga Lake. I recently learned that this lake is considered the most polluted lake in the United States!

My friend Tambre & I did a little exploring at the Liverpool Village Cemetery.

Albany, New York

View from Patroon Island Bridge (I-90) heading towards Massachusetts.

Montreal, Quebec

Messe des Morts group selfie. I love this capture that Becky got. The men are tired, us ladies have been fueled by whiskey, and the usual question at a music festival can be asked, “Where is Andrew?”

December

Montreal, Quebec

Getting ready to hit the road after Messe des Morts. #whiteshirtsunday

Saratoga Springs, NY

My backyard during a snowstorm lull. We got around 15 inches of snow by the end of this Nor’easter.

I finally got to go snowshoeing this year! Some winter worship at the Woods Hollow Nature Preserve. I needed it to be winter.

New Bedford, Massachusetts

Group selfie outside the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Fall River, Massachusetts

Celebrating Becky’s birthday, ready for our anticipated Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum tour.

Inside the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum. #whiteshirtsunday

Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum (Andrew J. Borden House, c. 1845).

Albany, New York

My husband took this photo while I was driving. View from Patroon Island Bridge (I-90) heading towards Massachusetts.

Saratoga Springs, New York

My husband and I in our “ugly sweaters.”

2019 Events I Attended

Pours for Paws Pup Crawl – Downtown Saratoga Springs, NY
Rasputina – Putnam Place, Saratoga Springs, NY
Peter Murphy 40 Years of Bauhaus, Ruby Celebration – Palladium, Worcester, MA
I’m on Cloud Wine: Wine & Chocolate Festival – The Desmond Hotel Albany, Albany, NY
Chris D’Elia: Follow the Leader Tour – The Egg, Albany, NY
Legions Descend, Sinmara, Suffering Hour – Ralph’s Diner, Worcester, MA
Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philadelphia – The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA
Tchornobog, Abyssal, Délétère, Merrimack, True Black Dawn – Brooklyn Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY
House of the Holy – Austria
Falls of Rauros, Wayfarer, Saor – Saint Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, NY
Saratoga Harness Racing – Saratoga Gaming & Racing, Saratoga Springs, NY
Alice in Chains, Korn – Saratoga Performing Art Center (SPAC), Saratoga Springs, NY
Behemoth, Gojira, Slipknot – Saratoga Performing Art Center (SPAC), Saratoga Springs, NY
Cauchemar, Pagan Altar – Saint Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, NY
Sonata Arctica, Kamelot – Palladium, Worcester, MA
GWAR – Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, NY
Wardruna – Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
Cloak, Uada, 1349 – Piranha Bar, Montreal, QC
King Diamond – Palladium, Worcester, MA
Belphegor – Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, NY
Messe des Morts – Montreal, QC