Sometimes we must rest

Sitting in my den I’m surrounded by pictures of places I’ve been. Keepsakes and souvenirs tacked to my walls are a constant reminder of the beauty and excitement that lives just outside my house. My dry erase board is covered in ideas for future adventures. My map book lies open to the Northern New York page. My camera and GoPro sit in their bag ready to go, yet all I can do is sit here. In fact today is the first day in almost a week that I have been able to sit here long enough to write. Recently I had a rather minor medical procedure done. In the world of medicine it was nothing exciting or special. It’s done probably 1000’s a time a day all over this planet. But coming out of recovery I was informed that there were a few minor complications with mine. Nothing super life changing but I’m stuck with a bit of a longer recovery time. So here I am, just sitting and waiting to heal. Anyone that knows me personally knows I don’t sit still well. My brain never turns off. So this recovery is driving me nuts. I sit in my recliner and watch documentaries about climbing Everest and K2 adventures. Fly Fishing trips and mountain biking trails on Netflix and YouTube

fill my day. I get up, stare out the window and sit back down. I tie a new fly and sit back down. My longest adventure out of the house has been taking the dogs out to do their business. Yet by the time I get them back in the house my body is telling me it’s time to rest again. So that's what I do, I rest. I’ve accepted the fact that I must rest and recover. No matter how badly I want to be out on the river or on a trail somewhere I know I’m not quite ready for it. I will be really soon but today is not the day. Today as I rest, I reminisce about some of the great places I have been. I scroll through hundreds of photos that I have taken. I figured today I would share some of my photos with everyone. Some you may have seen already and some I know you haven’t. As I explore, I take hundreds of photos. Many I just ignore but as I look through them I’ve found some pretty good ones that may just get you excited to get outside and do a little exploring of your own.

I know our North Country isn’t perfect, we have many flaws and hurdles to overcome. But as I go through all these photos I can’t help but get excited about what we have to offer. The natural beauty and opportunities to see things most will never see is endless. Almost daily I look over maps and websites looking for new places to explore and it amazes me how many places I still need to go. So as I rest and search for my next place to write about I hope some of these pictures have inspired you to find your own Northern NY Adventure.

Aaron Hardy

Northern NY Adventures

“Make life an Adventure”