Griffy: Bushwacking, spider sticks and walnut bombs

    I went for a long run this morning and decided to take in some of Griffy trails during the run. It was a nice, cool morning. I have been finding lots of new trails at Griffy and it is starting to become a habit. Today I decided to try to find a trail I was told would exist somewhere around Meadowwood retirement community so ran over there and tried to find it. I didn't succeed there so I ran out and found another trail back down Headley road. It was an unmarked one. I liked that. I like just discovering things on my own without signs all the time. So I ran down and first saw this lovely little path that I started down. The sunshine was so pretty all over it. The only thing a little disturbing were the walnut bombs---the trees had started to rain their big, heavy walnuts down all over the forest so I would be running and off to the left or right would hear a big THUD and think "Oh I hope I don't go under a tree that is getting ready to do that. Those sound like they would hurt if they hit!" So...walnut bombs...a little more excitement for the run.

     I ran down this little path and decided after awhile that there were lots of little trees really close together which is perfect spider-web-in-the-face situation. So I decided to grab a spider stick.To the right is a spider stick--a highly advanced piece of weaponry in which I wave it around in front of my face like Hermione waving her wand. It might look silly but I have been saved more than once from a spider in my face. I might get a patent. 

Here are some lovely pine trees. I think my favorite part of any trail is always the pine forests. I stood there and looked up at the tops and with the blue sky it was such a pretty sight I almost sighed.

 Here is some uphill. This was right before I lost the trail entirely and started bushwacking my way through the forest. My spider stick came in handy. I was just having the best time just trucking through the woods finding things and seeing new ways to go. I came across a big (well they call it a "depression") ravine and decided "Hey I wonder if i could go down there? And what I would find? Maybe some cool rocks or a treasure or...possibilities are endless in my mind....so I decided to clamber down the hill. Yes. Clamber. Stumble. Grab hold of stuff to make it as smoothly as possible and then kind of slide down the mud at the bottom to get to the rocky floor of the ravine.

 It was really pretty cool down there. There were rocks and downed trees and little skittery things I didn't look too closely at. Lots of gnats. No treasure though. I think someone must have found it first. That's it.
So I hung out there for a bit and then looked around and realized I had to go UP now. Nowhere to go in any direction but back UP.

I looked UP and saw it was pretty high, not much to hold onto and thought "This will be fun!". So I used my spider stick to stick in the mud to help me climb, held my feet at angles to get more traction and clambered my way up. I grabbed hold of rocks to pull myself up, edged over to tree trunks to climb up on and a few times the ground beneath me skittered back down the ravine almost taking me with it. Digging up through mud and finally I reached the top--or enough of the top I was now in no danger of falling again--and had to take a picture of the hill I had just climbed. That big log in the photo was the last way I got up--hand over hand pulling myself up that log to get to the top. It was quite a workout!

Last but not least I got down to Lake Griffy and took a photo of the lovely lake. This had been quite an adventure! I finally followed the ridgeline to a trail and then finished my trail run and out back onto the roads. I am so happy I am starting to learn more ways to get around Lake Griffy so I can have fun trail time too anytime I want!!

The Wall: A parable

          Sometimes in life we have a wall in front of us. Sometimes that wall says to climb it and even though we are not really equipped to climb it we do it anyway and then on the other side of that wall may be a thorn bush or a deep hole or another, higher, wall. This may be a good thing at some times of our lives.....a challenge is great. But at times the greater challenge is to look at the wall and ask yourself the harder question: Is this worth it?
    Is it better sometimes to sit still and say NO to the challenge ahead of us? It may make us feel we are weak but I think that true strength comes from knowing when things are safe, and unsafe, for us and being strong is being able to sit with the truth that NOW is not the time for that wall. There will be time.
   I think part of the reason I want to break ALL The walls is that I fear I may not have time.But time comes and goes like wind. There might be all the time in the world or there may only be tomorrow left to us but I believe in acting as though my future is a definite and I need to preserve all that I have that is sacred to carry into that future.
   So then there are most definitely times I must look up to that wall and realize "It is not worth it." And remind myself there IS time....time for more challenges, more hills to climb, more leaps to make. It's not over until it's over. Whether I die tomorrow or 30 years from now time is relative. I can make the most of today and not worry about tomorrow and whether this or that will happen OR I can fret and push and shove my way through the wall willfully like a kid up past their bedtime who, even though they have school tomorrow and the pizza they are eating is going to make them sick all night, just pushes past it and decides "I don't care!" Then that night they do care. And the next day falling asleep in class and feeling awful then they do care.
   The grownup thing to do is sometimes the hardest. Walking away from that big wall and into a less challenging place for awhile can make a person feel they are being weak or scared or unwilling to make a sacrifice. But why sacrifice? Why make things worse by pushing and shoving towards a thing that is really, truly, un-doable for me right now.
   That doesn't make me weak. It makes me smart. I have nothing to prove. I never really did. I only fooled myself into being so hard on myself when all that it was was having fun in the woods with my friends not a life or death struggle to the finish. (though sometimes it may have felt that way here and there)  I have done many hard things and climbed plenty of tall, scary, walls and come out the victor. Whether middle of the pack or last place I have proven I can finish things. Therefore I am not a quitter. I am smart.