Sunday, February 28, 2021
My memories of Martha all relate to hiking. She chose several of Fred's many Albany ADK trips that interested her. If Martha was there you knew the hike was extra special.
She was proud of her relationship to John Wesley Powell, so I was surprised to see no mention of it in her obituary, then that might be construed as bragging, something Martha would most assuredly not want to do.
One of the best days of my life was a Fred-led traverse of Pitchoff Mountain during peak fall foliage time. On the final summit of Pitchoff's five, after admiring the view with awe, Martha and some other participants, including myself, took a luxurious nap, not so Fred, of course. He gently awoke us when he deemed we'd slept enough and it was time to go. I will always remember Martha and Fred giving the view its due before we descended.
My last two associations with Martha were admiring her photo with Fred at Emma Treadwell and attending Fred's funeral/memorial service in UU. We will be deprived of doing the same for Martha. Hiking is not a part of my life much anymore, but I may try to take a nice walk in her memory in lieu of looking at a computer screen.
Barbara Traver