Scenes from a hikeThe combination of spring fever and senioritis (5 weeks to graduation!) is hitting me hard. On a gorgeous day like today, there's nothing more that I want to do than to get out there and take a hike. My day ends early and I will get the opportunity to in a few hours, but in the meantime, being stuck in a climate controlled office is torturous.
This is a fairly recent development, my love of the outdoors. Being paler than pale* and prone to horrific sunburns, as well as being less than athletically inclined, I was rarely allowed to even play outside as a kid without heavy armor. I have gone through cycles of being a gym bunny; there was a summer in high school that I logged 3 hours a day at the gym. However that (and my newly attained waist) quickly deteriorated during the school year. There's only so many hours a girl can log on the treadmill before feeling like she's turned into a hamster.
I never feel that way when I'm hiking. We live in a city (albeit in a less urban neighborhood) and it's rare to be able to look around and not be within 50 feet of at least a dozen cars But we are extremely lucky to live near an extensive park system with great trails, and you can really feel like you've gotten away from a couple hours, even though the traffic is just on the other side of the hill. I never feel more powerful or capable than when the sun is shining, I'm trekking up a steep incline and I can feel the core of muscles in my legs working to propel me forward. Going raw has completely shifted my perspective way beyond what I consume. I'm much more sensitive and responsive to my body and my environment.
Now, there is an ironic side to this extolment of the great outdoors (and disavowal of gym culture). Madeline and I have made it our goal to purchase a treadmill in the next few months, most likely from a second-hand sporting goods store. A large part of this has to do with her new job, which requires her to be there 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. We've been going for walks around the neighborhood when she gets home at night, but it's already dark and to get any real exercise in, she needs something more. I must say, I'm looking forward to it, too (as are our downstairs neighbors, they just don't know it yet). But I know that it won't supplant my love of getting out there and taking a hike.
-Eloise
*Fun party trick: find someone complaining that they're "so white!" and bet them that you're whiter... I've never lost and only tied once.
3 comments:
You mention Madeline's work quite often but I don't recall you ever mentioning what she does specifically. If it's not too much of a reveal, would you mind sharing? You have me in suspense!
Madeline says that we could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you. ;)
Okay, that's being over-dramatic, but suffice it to say that she's an Indian lesbian in a white, straight male dominated industry that's heavily regulated by the government and seeing a lot of cutbacks with the recession. She just doesn't want to take any chances. So now you're stuck imagining the worst!
If I'm correct with my guess, I used to be in that same industry several years ago myself. ;)
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