Actually, He Never Stopped Hiking: Loren's Paths

                                       

A lovely green tree-lined path at Broadstairs, England,
one of Charles Dickens' favorite vacation spots, and
also my friend Edward Sellick's, who took this photo.
I think his husband Jim is on this path with Loren. 

On one of Loren's favorite paths,
at Shenandoah National Park. 
 photo, Eric Trefney. 

My brother Loren would have been 75 years old on November 12, but age doesn't matter a whit where he is now, on some path or another beyond the horizon. 

He died while hiking along the Aucilla River in northern Florida.  I used to call it his last hike.  But actually, I see it now, it wasn't his last hike. He just kept on going, hiking into the unknown toward the moon, on paths inspired by the Goddess, by the natural beauty of our planet, the endless vastness of space.   

He's still hiking. I try to imagine the paths he's on, the paths he's exploring, wherever his curious mind takes him. The works of artists and photographers help me imagine it. They inspire Loren too.

He travels the world, free as a bird.  He's in eastern Europe now and then. I remember seeing him on morning walks and evening moon rises in Starobilsk when I served in Ukraine with the Peace Corps. He was curious. He wanted to know everything. He died when I was there, in May 2010, suddenly took off on a new journey, although I knew only grief at the time, devastating grief. 

Barbara Fox, New York State watercolor artist.

Sometimes he stops in Toledo, Ohio. My daughter Elissa and I thought we saw him when a red cardinal followed us along a hiking path we were on at Wildwood Metropark. He flew alongside us, stopped on a branch when we stopped, tilted his head and listened to us. "I think it's Uncle Loren," Elissa smiled. We had a nice conversation. Loren's at peace.

I've felt his presence in Michigan too. At the secret enchanted forest in Osseo, on Bird Lake. Chase and a friend were there too, examining lovely stones placed there by visitors. Wouldn't surprise me if Loren left a few of those stones, the ones with "peace" written on them.  

Autumn in Teton National Park.

William Shaftner takes off!

Our sister Andy thinks Loren was on that Blue Origin space flight with Star Trek actor William Shaftner a few weeks ago, that's how far his paths take him. 

I wondered if Loren would like the idea of "Tourist Rockets" by  the likes of ultra-billionaire Jeff Bezos, but our sister Andy thinks Loren would have been on that ride for sure.  "Are you kidding me, sis? It was one of his dearest wishes. He dreamed about it!"           

That's true. He was the biggest fan of space exploration early on, inspired by Star Wars and his endless research. He followed NASA like a hawk. He was one of the founders of the Greater Orlando Space Society when he lived there, because he wanted to get people excited about space exploration and its benefits. He was at most space launches. Yep, Andy's right. He was cruising along on that space flight.

Loren returns to Florida a lot, too. He lived there for a long time, became a booster and enthusiastic environmental volunteer. From Orlando he moved to Tallahassee in 2009. Our mother was not doing well, and he joined Andy in caring for her.  

Loren knew a lot about Florida's natural environment, worked hard to preserve it.  He took that Aucilla River hike with the Florida Trails Association. He volunteered at St. Marks and Birdsong. He was a faithful member of the Sierra Club. I have a feeling he was down at the Loxahatchee Nature Preserve recently when a full moon reflected its awesome glory. 

The moon shines on the Loxahatchee Wildlife Preserve, part of the northern Everglades near Jupiter, Florida. That's where the Moon and the Earth meet. Loren is its witness.

Photo by Bill Kiert, Dept. of Interior.