Taking A Walk

Late this afternoon as the kids were winding up to be loud and rowdy, we decided to take them out of the house for a walk. Rather than walking down to the river, like we often would, we drove out to the hills. One hill in particular. It isn't the most outstanding feature around, but it is a nice, steep hill that folks like to drive up and down in their four-wheelers and ATVs. From the looks of the trails, a few even make it.

At the base of the hill, its steepness is deceptive. What looks like the crest of the hill is actually about the halfway point, leaving you breathless and wondering why you chose *this* particular challenge to undertake. This afternoon, it was chilly and the breeze had picked up to a blustery wind. If there were trees around, their leaves would have swirled around us as their trunks broke the chill. Yet this land is truly desolate, with the only vegetation the scrubby ankle-high grasses that found a hollow to grow out of between rocks.

The climb was at a good 40 degree angle, which sent my breath flying as I am quite out of shape. My stamina was apparently still lounging on the couch eating chocolate, damn it. We held the kids hands to help them along, and to keep chilly little fingers a bit warmer. Even with the lure of ice cream for the ones that reached the top, we made it to just under the halfway point. It was too cold and windy for all of us, so we turned around vowing to conquer it another (warmer) day.