Off the Beaten Path

We love hiking.  Ever since college really.  I remember my first time visiting the Devil's Marbleyard in Virginia.  Gosh, that was years ago.  I actually think that was also the site of my first anxiety attack.  Halfway up, and all I could picture was us falling to the bottom.  But that didn't stop us.  Well, we did start choosing hikes with lower elevations.  

We found Edwin Warner in Nashville.  It was only 3 minutes from our apartment, and it was perfect.  First it was just the two of us.  And truthfully, now I can't even remember what it was like when it was just the two of us.  We added our dog, Macy, in short order.  This tiny puppy who wouldn't come near us at the SPCA, wouldn't stray farther away then the back of our heels at Edwin Warner.  Well, at least for the first six months.  After that we barely saw her on our hikes.  Every now and again we'd see a black streak fly across the ridge in search of squirrels.  

After the arrival of our oldest daughter, our hiking stopped.  Just didn't seem feasible to carry everything that was required to sustain our tiny daughter, our dog, and ourselves.  Now that Ladybug is capable of doing a nice 2-2.5 mile hike, we've started back up again.  

And let me tell you, we've learned a lot since we've started hiking with the girls.  First? Grunters.  You know those people at the gym who grunt impossibly loudly when lifting weights or hitting a squash ball?  Well, they're born that way.  And we know that because Ladybug is a grunter.  Every rock or step that she climbs is accompanied by the loudest grunt.  She just can't help it.  And I feel for her a little, she'll probably be glared at by tons of gym goers when she's grown up.  Second? I squeal like a little girl when bugs fly into my ear.  Yes, that's right.  And then the girls will spend the next hour repeating it, and any chance we have of spotting wildlife is gone.  But when they're super quiet, and they certainly were today, we catch glimpses like this... 

By the way, nursing mothers are everywhere!

Third?  We move at two different speeds, the girls and I.  Especially when hiking.  The girls?  They meander.  Every ant, rock, grain of sand, and leaf is worthy of their undivided attention.  And truly?  That's the way it should be.  I have to fight my inner need to walk at warp speed like I'm shopping on Black Friday.  And anyone who knows my mother and Black Friday knows what I'm talking about.  

Our hikes are different now.  Less hand holding with my husband.  More hand holding with our children.  Less talk about our future.  More talk about peeing in the woods, and why it's only done in an absolute emergency.  Ladybug has this strange idea that it's the absolute best place to pee.  Although Sunshine did steer the conversation today towards her fervent desire for a baby brother.  Ha!  Not exactly something you put on a birthday list, kid.