The Slide

I did hike this week.

Once.

Chris' picture; as always, his are better than mine.

We did Granite Gardens in the Dells; one of my favorite.

Staircase Loop

The sun had just come up.

And I still hadn't found my sunglasses.

That was a busy day; after the early morning hike and a full day of work, I grabbed my 6' 2 1/2" son for a little date.

Of course we went for wings. 

Because we were inverted.

Date night was Top Gun in the theater, quite possibly the coolest thing I've done in years.

I refrained from quoting the entire movie by heart, and was weepy when Goose died.

So a fantastic Tuesday, right?  The slide began right after we left.  Abbie sold her horse Sam.

Sam & Abbie.

While a wise, mature choice beyond her years, I got weepy.  As an unweepy person (in particularly as a mum, I very rarely cry) this was unexpected.

Had I only known.

Next morning, it's another early hike.  Butte Creek.

Predawn light.

Except...everyone cancels but me.

Now, these ARE legit excuses.  One cannot predict waking up to a sick child, or pulling an Achilles.

However, there are but two things in this world that make my blood boil:  hanging up on me, and ditching a hike.

My descent into madness soon followed.

By madness I mean weepy tears...the utter demise of my ego into a sloshing mess with nothing but old McDonald's napkins to mop it up.

Oh, I was initially pissed off at being stuck in town at 6:30am with nothing to do.  By the time I had confirmed the cancellation, simple frustration set in and I had limited solo hike options.

I ended up back in the Dells, alone.

My mind on the days of the horse, the many arguments about said horse, and the future reduced me to tears again.

It didn't help that my hand was throbbing from overuse the day before.

Can one just fast forward through the healing of a broken hand??

The day was thankfully busy, and I scored my first ask on behalf of the museum.  

It ended like this.