Day #109: Take the Trail, Have the Adventure, Wear Better Shoes
I'm starting this post at noon on Father's Day in hopes of actually finishing it today.
The Father's Day PLAN was to do a big celebration of Daddy yesterday (Saturday) and have Grandpa come see us today (Sunday.) But Grandpa told us yesterday afternoon that he doesn't feel up to people and can we do it another day. He always worries me when he says things like that but then I remind myself, he's 80 and every day with him is a gift. He knows his body and his stamina and if he says no people today I need to respect that. When you have an 80 year old father during a global pandemic, what's the point of worrying? You just have to enjoy the days.
So I tell myself. I don't always believe myself, but there you go.
Anyhow, back to yesterday. Josh wanted to take the kids to the beach because we've been there several times on work days lately and he hasn't been able to go along. So I put the kids in water shoes and me in sandals.
The other day, on one of our "let's kill some time" drives, we drove past this little park we'd not seen before. Not very big, just a big field with some nice water views, a couple of climbing trees (to James, who doesn't have a good climbing tree in our yard, all park trees are climbing trees) and a little meandering trail through the woods to a place where you can overlook the train tracks that run right next to the water.
Nice park, about 5 miles from one of our usual beaches.
So we were headed to the beach and James starts talking about this park. And I said, we can go there if Daddy wants, this is Daddy's day, he chooses and Daddy said sure.
I did say I wish I had worn better shoes, but the little trail through the woods was no biggie.
So we went, we saw the view, we walked down and saw the train tracks although there were no trains running. And my husband, the intrepid explorer, peered across the ravine we were standing next to and said, "There's a trail over there."
Sigh. The stupid shoes.
I almost said no. I actually did say no. I have the wrong shoes, it's the wrong day, can we please come back another day and walk it then. But it was his day. I said we were gonna do what he wanted. So down the muddy side trail we went. In sandals.
It was lovely. Lovely little creekside walk, step on the old drainage pipe to walk across the creek, eventually get blocked by a fallen tree. James was in heaven, got to belly crawl on a tree across the water, he was in love. Not for anything would I have missed that.
And then...I got to walk up the muddy hill in wet sandals. At one point I went backwards. At one point I threw the sandals up the hill and went barefoot. Adventures are awesome. But we are sometimes woefully unprepared.
I'm sure there's a more profound lesson than that, but I think that is where I will leave it for now.
Media consumption: I finished the #queerblackathon readathon yesterday by finishing my second book in as many days which was astounding. It was You Should See Me in a Crown and it was soooo good...YA contemporary but in all the best ways. Today I started reading Roughing it in the Bush, which is an 1852 book written by a fairly wealthy woman who was a pioneer in Canada...so she was likely on an adventure she was woefully unprepared for. That book should be VERY different from what I've been reading. I want to finish it in a week and then dig into all the delectable library books waiting for me.
Today I'm grateful for: my husband, my dad, being able to clean at least one room, a moment's peace, a walk in the woods, another Father's Day with my dad here with us even if he can't be here with us, health and safety for all.
The Father's Day PLAN was to do a big celebration of Daddy yesterday (Saturday) and have Grandpa come see us today (Sunday.) But Grandpa told us yesterday afternoon that he doesn't feel up to people and can we do it another day. He always worries me when he says things like that but then I remind myself, he's 80 and every day with him is a gift. He knows his body and his stamina and if he says no people today I need to respect that. When you have an 80 year old father during a global pandemic, what's the point of worrying? You just have to enjoy the days.
So I tell myself. I don't always believe myself, but there you go.
Anyhow, back to yesterday. Josh wanted to take the kids to the beach because we've been there several times on work days lately and he hasn't been able to go along. So I put the kids in water shoes and me in sandals.
The other day, on one of our "let's kill some time" drives, we drove past this little park we'd not seen before. Not very big, just a big field with some nice water views, a couple of climbing trees (to James, who doesn't have a good climbing tree in our yard, all park trees are climbing trees) and a little meandering trail through the woods to a place where you can overlook the train tracks that run right next to the water.
Nice park, about 5 miles from one of our usual beaches.
So we were headed to the beach and James starts talking about this park. And I said, we can go there if Daddy wants, this is Daddy's day, he chooses and Daddy said sure.
I did say I wish I had worn better shoes, but the little trail through the woods was no biggie.
So we went, we saw the view, we walked down and saw the train tracks although there were no trains running. And my husband, the intrepid explorer, peered across the ravine we were standing next to and said, "There's a trail over there."
Sigh. The stupid shoes.
I almost said no. I actually did say no. I have the wrong shoes, it's the wrong day, can we please come back another day and walk it then. But it was his day. I said we were gonna do what he wanted. So down the muddy side trail we went. In sandals.
It was lovely. Lovely little creekside walk, step on the old drainage pipe to walk across the creek, eventually get blocked by a fallen tree. James was in heaven, got to belly crawl on a tree across the water, he was in love. Not for anything would I have missed that.
And then...I got to walk up the muddy hill in wet sandals. At one point I went backwards. At one point I threw the sandals up the hill and went barefoot. Adventures are awesome. But we are sometimes woefully unprepared.
I'm sure there's a more profound lesson than that, but I think that is where I will leave it for now.
Media consumption: I finished the #queerblackathon readathon yesterday by finishing my second book in as many days which was astounding. It was You Should See Me in a Crown and it was soooo good...YA contemporary but in all the best ways. Today I started reading Roughing it in the Bush, which is an 1852 book written by a fairly wealthy woman who was a pioneer in Canada...so she was likely on an adventure she was woefully unprepared for. That book should be VERY different from what I've been reading. I want to finish it in a week and then dig into all the delectable library books waiting for me.
Today I'm grateful for: my husband, my dad, being able to clean at least one room, a moment's peace, a walk in the woods, another Father's Day with my dad here with us even if he can't be here with us, health and safety for all.
Comments
Post a Comment