Delaware Water Gap in Winter

Even though the last time I went to the Delaware Water Gap, I got Lymes Disease, the boy and I decided to return anyways. In the winter, with less mosquitos and the addition of downhill skiing. Getting out and going on a winter adventure is something I have to do at least once or twice a year. There is something so magical, captivating and quiet about nature in the winter. You can see 

everything.

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.

William Blake

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show.

Andrew Wyeth

While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best.

Tom Allen

The next time I venture into the forests of the Delaware Water Gap or the mountains of northern New York, I will be accompanied by a slingshot and 140 bullets. Things could get interesting.

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” 

Edith Stillwell

All Photos Copyright Jaci Berkopec

Portugal: Hitchhiking, Mermaids, and Pastries

I've recently been thinking about my trip to Portugal nonstop. It's because this trip was filled with an exuberant amount of beauty, energy, and exploration. Portugal allowed me to set myself free and let my inhibitions run wild. It was an experience I cherished with two friends of mine who were living there at the time. Portugal, I will come back to you soon.

“The art is not one of forgetting but letting go. And when everything else is gone, you can be rich in loss.”

Rebecca Solnit

“Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go.” 

Rebecca Solnit

“Getting lost was not a matter of geography so much as identity, a passionate desire, even an urgent need, to become no one and anyone, to shake off the shackles that remind you who you are, who others think you are.” 

Rebecca Solnit

"A city always contains more than any inhabitant can know, and a great city always makes the unknown and the possible spurs to the imagination.” 

Rebecca Solnit

All Photos Copyright © Jaci Berkopec