Take a hike!

Last Saturday, I found myself knee deep in snow. I was standing in the middle of the forest with no one in sight. My hands were leaning on my hiking pole.

“How the hell did I get into this?” Even after years of practicing positive thinking, I could not think of another thought.

Excuses database

Over four decades of marriage, I have built up a large database of excuses ready for any occasion.

But COVID changed everything. When my wife got tired of seeing my face all the time, she decided she wanted a change of scene. She wanted to go for walks. So we walked along the lakeshore every day. She insisted that I walk with her because the doctor told us I need to lose weight.

Then she wanted to explore new places. By the middle of the week, she’d start by looking at the map. She draws a radius of about an hour’s driving distance from our house. Then she’d look up the parks, forests, hills, valleys, and lakes in this area. Any place she can hike for an hour or two.

I hate hiking.

Every weekend we went for long hikes. We’d go at about nine in the morning. Initially, as soon as we started, I’d start complaining. It was too hot. I do not have hiking boots. I needed water. I need to pee.

Nothing fazed her. She bought me everything I asked for.

Then, to beat the heat, we started hiking at six in the morning. I saw signs that said “bears spotted in the area.” If I missed the signs, she’d never tell me. She even threatened to put a leash around my neck and drag me up the trail.

After awhile, I began to enjoy the hikes. We went hiking, kayaking, canoeing, and camping… all the things you do in nice weather. Then we hiked in winter. She bought me crampons to hike on lakes and icy terrain.

Towards the end of last year, this habit died down. Both of us started getting knee problems. I was happy. I thought nature itself heard my prayers.

Yes dear!

Last Friday night, when I was half asleep, she slipped this statement. “Tomorrow we will go hiking.”

Four decades of marriage have taught me the golden phrase, “Yes, dear.”

This time, it slipped out before I realized what I was getting into. I tried to complain about my hurting knees and the freezing cold. She simply shrugged.

I had hoped the parking lot would be full of snow, so we’d have to come back. But they had cleared enough snow for five cars to park.

When we arrived at the trailhead, we saw a large sign that read “Trail Closed.” I felt the warm glow of hope spring through my body. I started to turn back.

My wife turned around and said, “We’ll go for a short while and see how the trail looks like.”

“But there will be thin ice,” I complained.

“Use your hiking pole,” she said and walked ahead.

“Why don’t I just wait in the car.” I pleaded.

She did not even turn, just held up the car keys hanging from her gloves.

I followed her and started carefully putting one foot in front of the other. The snow was knee deep. I poked in the snow before moving every step.

Soon, I got into the rhythm. My wife was far ahead. I could see no one around. I thought, “How the hell did I get into this?”

I stood there for a long time, leaning on my hiking pole. I looked around me.

It was as if nature had put on a show. It was white everywhere. Clumps of snow hung from the evergreen trees, and fallen tree trunks were covered in snow. Snow covered everything that stood up. The blobs of snow on wooden stumps looked like giant ice cream cones.

The stream was covered with snow. In the middle, through the crack in the thin ice, water flowed.

I took a deep breath. The air was fresh. There was not a sound. No people. No cars. I closed my eyes. What I always imagined when I needed a moment to myself was right in front of me. Just me and beautiful nature.

New meaning

When my wife tells me to take a hike, I did not realize that this was what she meant. I may have found a new meaning.

Once in a while, all of us need a little push in the right direction to see the world from a different perspective. All we need to do is pause, open our minds, and look around us.

Later, after the hike, when I was at the coffee shop, I told my wife about this. She looked at me with her mischievous eyes and said, “Before we started our hike if you had told me, ‘Yes dear, let’s go on a hike. This is my Valentine’s gift to you’, you’d have scored brownie points.”

I cursed myself for this missed opportunity. 40 years and I still cannot fathom how she thinks.

Happy [belated] Valentine’s Day!

But then for some of us every day should be a Valentine’s Day.