SPRING LAKE RUMINATIONS

 

Recently I met a friend from High School I haven’t seen in many years. After meeting her husband and seeing her house and garden with a beautiful hand-built arbor, Sheila, her precious dog Penny, and I went for a walk around Spring Lake.  It was so nice to catch up with her and spend some time after being one of those annoying people who says they would like to catch up then takes forever to make it actually happen. 

Including the above, I have had several ruminations and realizations that stemmed from our Spring Lake walk I thought I would share:

1.        I am that annoying person who genuinely wants to spend time with someone else but has difficulty making it happen and relies to a vast degree on people not giving up on me or thinking I am full of baloney.

2.       If you want a man to build something for you such as an arbor, give him wood, power tools, and download directions from the internet.  (Note: This probably works better if he is nice, likes building things, loves and adores you, or all of the above, so try at your own risk.)

3.       Having a cat is SO much easier than a dog and I totally appreciate the fact I don’t have to walk Miss X, I can leave her for hours or even a couple of days easily, and I don’t have to pick up poop in various places. 

4.       Despite Penny’s pooping abilities, she has the most endearing whimper I have ever heard.  Well played, Penny!

5.       After eating my way through Central and South America, I need to exercise more.

6.       Eating a bag of chili lime Cheetohs before and after a healthy walk is a bad idea for many reasons.  A Gateorade in between will not save you from Cheetoh damage and may even be a catalyst for said damage in an unnatural orange glow.

7.       I need a bike to go along with the bike bell I requested my sister get me from Rio de Janeiro because it was so enjoyable “dinging” the bell at pedestrians, other bikers, while competing with the constant motorcycle “beeping”, and at random times for fun.

8.       Bright orange and yellow paddle boats and kayaks bring the excited kid out in me who wants to PLAY.

9.       Spring Lake is quite pretty and perfect for a walk. It is embarrassing I have never been there before.

10.   It really isn’t that I don’t like nature walks, hikes, or other activities; it’s just that I still get flashbacks to when I stepped in a nest of yellow jackets during a camping trip when I was twelve. Still to this day, when anything remotely similar to that experience occurs, even something as benign as going a few steps off of a marked trail or road, uncontrollable urges to run screaming bubble up which can leave me in a stupefied, frozen state or have me flailing my arms in a panic that give you glimpses of what the actual event was like, usually minus the screaming, crying, and dash to the emergency room.