I really do feel like I am getting away with things on our Friday hike day – also known as Yikes Hikes. Many things.
I get to turn the coffee on at 5:30 am instead of 6:00 am. (I normally start waking up around 4:30 am – what a difference 30 minutes makes!) I turn on all the lights and open the curtains at 6:00 am – instead of 6:30. And bring Laur his orange juice and coffee then too. A half hour is everything when you are meeting up with fellow hikers at 7:15 am at the clubhouse. (OK, we’ll wander in 5 minutes late. It’s what we do.)
I get to skip my morning jog-walk and that’s a big break – it takes me an hour to do 5 km. Oh, and I get to eat my breakfast at 6:30 am instead of 8:00 am. No Body Pump or Spin class, not even a swim. Ok, I do enjoy these, but I also enjoy taking a break from them… I skip my morning shower. Note: I do have one when we get back.
I sound more devious by the paragraph, I know.
Once hiking, I listen to hours of podcasts. And these podcasts are not sermons or inspirational or educational. Nah! My latest hiking binge-listen is of Old Time Radio Hour mysteries – circa 1940s and 50s. I just love them.
Also, I GET TO BE RUDE! Sort of. While I’m listening to podcasts, I’m not interacting with my fellow hikers. (I will certainly stop listening to my podcasts if someone asks me to – I am Canadian after all.) I simply love picturing how the actors are doing this – all seated around the microphones, pages in hands. Others at hand for the special effects. In one show there was a cat who caterwauled and hissed all the time. How hard it must have been for the voice actors to not break out into laughter. DON’T WORRY LAURENCE – I DO NOTICE THE SCENERY TOO.
Lunchtime brings more deviousness. I eat three large sandwiches instead of two. And I ladle the peanut butter in so generously that it is practically as thick as the bread. Two bananas– instead of one. And an entire granola bar. (OK, it’s a candy bar.)
I actually like “altitude” hikes and Yikes Hikes have elevation. This means I get to climb and for some reason, climbing releases happiness hormones for me. And, as exciting, is going downhill. It’s so much faster.
And the feeling I have when we reach the parking lot and see our 20-year-old green car still sitting there… And the even greater thrill when the trunk shuts with just one effort, the car starts up easily, and the AC works. Oh joy, oh bliss.
Getting home and just flopping for an hour, before showering and making supper… And then making an easy supper with extra large portion sizes… And the piece de resistance… We skip our after-supper walk around the park.
I climb into bed by 7 pm – that is nothing new. But on hike days, while listening to yet another podcast, I am still practically twittering with delight at my narcissism.
*****
Health permitting, the hikes will continue, but the podcasts may have to go in 2019. Yes, Laur and I have applied to be Volunteer Patrollers. I will need and want to be attentively listening to and listening for hikers. The website reads, “Our objective, while patrolling trails, roads, and picnic areas, is to provide information and assistance to visitors; answering questions about trails, trailhead locations, safety, and Forest Service rules and regulations.”
As exciting, “As Forest Service volunteers we patrol in uniform, complementing the official presence of the Forest Service.” I’ll have to order a T-shirt that says, “I love my man in uniform!”
I get to turn the coffee on at 5:30 am instead of 6:00 am. (I normally start waking up around 4:30 am – what a difference 30 minutes makes!) I turn on all the lights and open the curtains at 6:00 am – instead of 6:30. And bring Laur his orange juice and coffee then too. A half hour is everything when you are meeting up with fellow hikers at 7:15 am at the clubhouse. (OK, we’ll wander in 5 minutes late. It’s what we do.)
I get to skip my morning jog-walk and that’s a big break – it takes me an hour to do 5 km. Oh, and I get to eat my breakfast at 6:30 am instead of 8:00 am. No Body Pump or Spin class, not even a swim. Ok, I do enjoy these, but I also enjoy taking a break from them… I skip my morning shower. Note: I do have one when we get back.
I sound more devious by the paragraph, I know.
Once hiking, I listen to hours of podcasts. And these podcasts are not sermons or inspirational or educational. Nah! My latest hiking binge-listen is of Old Time Radio Hour mysteries – circa 1940s and 50s. I just love them.
Also, I GET TO BE RUDE! Sort of. While I’m listening to podcasts, I’m not interacting with my fellow hikers. (I will certainly stop listening to my podcasts if someone asks me to – I am Canadian after all.) I simply love picturing how the actors are doing this – all seated around the microphones, pages in hands. Others at hand for the special effects. In one show there was a cat who caterwauled and hissed all the time. How hard it must have been for the voice actors to not break out into laughter. DON’T WORRY LAURENCE – I DO NOTICE THE SCENERY TOO.
Lunchtime brings more deviousness. I eat three large sandwiches instead of two. And I ladle the peanut butter in so generously that it is practically as thick as the bread. Two bananas– instead of one. And an entire granola bar. (OK, it’s a candy bar.)
I actually like “altitude” hikes and Yikes Hikes have elevation. This means I get to climb and for some reason, climbing releases happiness hormones for me. And, as exciting, is going downhill. It’s so much faster.
And the feeling I have when we reach the parking lot and see our 20-year-old green car still sitting there… And the even greater thrill when the trunk shuts with just one effort, the car starts up easily, and the AC works. Oh joy, oh bliss.
Getting home and just flopping for an hour, before showering and making supper… And then making an easy supper with extra large portion sizes… And the piece de resistance… We skip our after-supper walk around the park.
I climb into bed by 7 pm – that is nothing new. But on hike days, while listening to yet another podcast, I am still practically twittering with delight at my narcissism.
*****
Health permitting, the hikes will continue, but the podcasts may have to go in 2019. Yes, Laur and I have applied to be Volunteer Patrollers. I will need and want to be attentively listening to and listening for hikers. The website reads, “Our objective, while patrolling trails, roads, and picnic areas, is to provide information and assistance to visitors; answering questions about trails, trailhead locations, safety, and Forest Service rules and regulations.”
As exciting, “As Forest Service volunteers we patrol in uniform, complementing the official presence of the Forest Service.” I’ll have to order a T-shirt that says, “I love my man in uniform!”