Because sometimes life is beautiful [pics]

On Sunday Liam took me hiking. I woke up feeling kind of "off" and my blood sugar was a little elevated so I downed some water, took my vitamins, laced myself with some magnesium and a few aspirin, and called it prepared.

I was texting with Mary about how I was feeling anxious about the trek. I’ve been going to the rail trail in the morning before work to put in a few miles. I dont have much time, I suck at running, so I jog a little and practice my speed-walking skills, jog some more and so on and so forth. It’s totally boring but I am averaging about 10miles a week so I feel like it’s better than nothing for a 35-40min period of outdoor time.

Anyway, I’d mentioned not too long ago that I wanted to see this place Liam talks about called Hammond. It’s in the Goldenseal magazine (some periodical based on state history) and the property used to be a brick and clay mine way back when. He has a photo of it that somebody took and he mentioned wanting to hike out sometime and take another picture of it, now, from the same place and frame the two. I was excited by the idea and said I’d love to go with him when he does because I havent seen it.

I cannot begin to describe the look on his face. He said, "Hammond? You want to walk all the way out to Hammond?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"You do know that it’s kind of a long walk, right?" he asked.

"Um, no, but I’m game."

"The terrain sucks. I havent gone out there in months, and I’m sure it’s worse now that it flooded last week."

"Who are you trying to convince not to go? Me or you? I’m stoked." I start jogging in place, kind of air boxing at him because I’m a lunatic, and he laughs. "Are you ready? When do you want to go?"

"Yep, sounds good to me. Sunday work? It’s supposed to be 65."

"Super. I think it sounds wonderful."

Everything was going GREAT until I asked what kind of shoes I should wear. He just looked at me, shook his head with that dry smile of his and said, "Jesus H. Christ, you are girl afterall. Somedays I’m not so sure. Are you gonna wipe your shoes off with a baby wipe if they get dirty?"

"No! I’m gonna kick your butt with my muddy foot and…" I said. He interupted me with, "and then I’ll beat you down and you’ll walk back looking like some kind of free loving hippie, caked in mud and leaves, with that sly grin on your face the whole time."

I teased him and said we cant get too dirty because Henry and TW would FLIP OUT if we showed up at their house caked in mud. He said they have a river in their back yard, I’ll get you clean. Right at that moment TW texted and said she was really excited to see us and I said yeah, hopefully not caked in mud. She said it’s okay, we are comfortable with mud. Liam said Oh no, dont let her say that, we’ll have to turn that into a challenge.

*shakes head*

Soooooooo anyway… I calm down about the whole trek through the woods thing because the terrain, while rough and rugged in some places, didnt suck as much as I’d expected it to suck. We were out for a little over 3hrs, Google Earth calculated it to be about 6miles or so. We spent more time climbing embankments and crossing streams than we did walking trails. He chased me down the middle of the railroad tracks and I found myself screaming for him to stop because I was sure I’d fall. We laughed. He led me off the beaten path to see the beaches and streams he liked, somebody made a campsite somewhere that he wanted to show me, there was a tunnel from the old clay tram to walk through, a big rock that seems to be forming a stelagmite (sp?), and a really nice waterfall. I told him I wanted to come back in the summer when the water was warmer and jump in.

All in all it was a good day, I wasnt in pain (I get shin splits a lot) and I didnt feel like I was going to die. I was a little tired at one part but I survived. We’d just gotten done hopping rocks across this creek, trying not to fall in while doing it, and went straight up this steep hill. At one point crossing the stream he looks at me and says, "Well done, youre not whining." I asked why I would whine and he said "most people hate hiking with me because I just see where I want to go and I go there, shortest distance, if that means through the water, well, you might just get wet." I said clearly you havent hiked with me because I do the same thing, I am just so happy that you know how to keep pace. I hate lollygaggers. 

I made a collosal mistake and broke pace after watching him hop onto fallen trees and walk down the other side of them. I was so taken off guard by it that I walked right INTO the tree at which point I had to stop and climb over each of the 3 trees in the group and catch up. He turned around and said, "Dont think about it, just know that it’s coming, speed up, and jump." I said, "I was planning on doing that until I saw you do it and it kind of threw me off. I wasnt expecting it."  He laughed.

I also have to think that he’s a little taller than I am, in much better shape, and is stronger. Add in that he knew it was coming up (I was watching what I was walking on more than where I was going at that stage) and it just worked out for him. Really though, it was no big deal. I am continuously amazed by the things he can do, that was just one of them.

We hiked and looked around for a long time before going back. We had a little time to kill so we took the scenic route to TW’s for dinner and cards.

I just realized the time and need to skedaddle. I’ll try to come back and add to this later.