Love On the Rocks

After 21+ years, it's a little hard sometimes to keep the spark going. A houseful of kids, pets, chores, and work take their toll. For years, Sweetie used to unwind by going for long hikes in the mountains, but I never went with him. The kids were too little to go with us, I had too much to do at home--there was always some reason why he hiked solo. Then he started having lots of problems with his joints, and even he didn't hike anymore.

Last night we had a big Philosophy department dinner at our chair's cabin up at Sundance. It's a gorgeous old place that his wife's parents built in the 40s, right on the creek up a private road. There were so many new faculty members that I had never met and I got to visit with the lovely ones I've known all these past 19 years. We had such a great time, and near the end several of us decided to take off on a hike to Stewart Falls.

I've been feeling so amazingly great lately, especially these last few weeks, that I was more than game for it. Tinkerbell joined us, and Sweetie and I took our first hike together in years. We walked on a private path until it joined up with the main trail, then about 1/2 mile beyond there we reached the falls. By this time it was getting pretty cool out, and the water was freezing coming off the rocks. But after teasing Tinkerbell that I would throw her in, she dared me to go under myself.

Completing this hike was huge for me. My joints didn't hurt at all, not even a little, for the first time in years. I walked across logs to cross streams and didn't fall in, which is also pretty rare, kept up a good steady pace, didn't even get out of breath because I've been walking so much lately. I did not make it all the way up to those falls just to walk back down again. So I walked right into that water and let it drench me. It was definitely cold, but euphoric in a certain respect. Then Tinkerbell hopped under too. Sweetie thought we were both insane and was not tempted to join us.

It was dark by the time we reached the cabin, with a bright white moon coming over the mountain. While our lovely hostess let Tinkerbell soak her cold feet in some warm water, I walked down to the meadow to drive the van closer to the house. The whole way down, the words to Jem's song "Got It Good" kept running through my mind. Having a good attitude is important, but having my health return makes life worth living again. I truly am a lucky girl.