Sarahmarie Specht-Bird
A writer, teacher, and long-distance hiker in pursuit of a life that blends all three.
Read trail dispatches and adventure stories at my website.
Lost and Found in Dharamsala
It’s boiling hot when I walk out of the airport. My internal systems are all jumbled up, recalibrating after the end of a spin cycle. It’s dark, it’s 8:30 PM, and it’s a humid 90 degrees. There is noise everywhere: people talking, people shouting, PA announcements, cars honking. My legs are cramped from the thirteen-hour flight and it feels amazing to stand, even if it means lugging around my comically massive suitcase.
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished a day ago in Wander
Making With a Purpose
I stand at my kitchen counter, scissors in hand. There is a piece of blue painter's tape, measured to 18 inches, stretching across the laminate. On my left, a quickly-dwindling skein of yarn sits at the ready. I grab a length of the fiber, place the cut end to the far right side of the tape, and hold the side closest to the skein down onto the countertop. I angle my scissors towards the yarn. Snip. I've just sharpened my favorite Fiskars, and the blades cut right through with a crisp, satisfying sound.
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 11 days ago in LifehackRunning With Pride
It's June! You know what that means: Lots of daylight for long runs! ...Or, if you're like me, it means many short, sweaty, slow runs that require a lot of music to get through.
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 16 days ago in PrideHow to Be an Introvert at the Mall
Crowds are the worst. I generally hate shopping. Ten minutes inside a florescent-lit store will send me into a spiral of anxious foot-tapping and watch-checking until I can finally be free. Even before the pandemic, I avoided shopping malls like the proverbial plague.
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 20 days ago in HumansNauset Beach
We drive an hour northward up the coast, horizon bathed in fog just out of sight. This kind of day makes one believe in ghosts
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 21 days ago in Poets
Life Like Thunder
Life like thunder buzzes through the branches, where a billion voices together sing their presence. Their song is an avalanche
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 22 days ago in Poets
On Summer in the Sierras
In my mind I am moving through the trees Clear cold air, while the smell of pines surrounds, The roar of water just ahead of me,
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 27 days ago in Poets
Ode to the Red Eft
It's late morning somewhere in North Carolina. I've been hiking alone so far today, mindlessly listening to music as my feet carve a repetitive step, step, step into the damp earth. It rained hard all night, and my friends and I woke up to sopping tents. But this morning, the sky is a crisp, cheerful blue, and the sun warms me as I walk.
Sarahmarie Specht-BirdPublished 28 days ago in Earth
