Something New

Well this weekend was entertaining. Got to go up to a house near Deep Creek ski resort and hang out with the in laws doing hikes and snowshoeing for good times to be had. Interesting thing, the hiking path had been trod on so much that all the snow had turned to ice, making it the most DANGEROUS HIKE EVER. Now let me set the stage. So a bunch of fun go-getters are out for a hike, and they see the ground has all turned to ice. All of it. So half put on snow shoes because the steel grips will keep them on the ground, one even puts on a modified boot with spurs to keep his footing, but the rest, including the dogs, go balls to the wall. It was .... interesting. There were also many stairs to lead you down to the water. And by water I mean icy slope of DEATH. And by water I mean Watery Rapids of DEATH. Well, on the up side no one died, or ever, surprisingly, fell in the water. We slipped a few times and fell a few times. I think my personal low/awesome moment was when I tried to run up an icy slope to the top. I almost made it.... almost. I started to slide back downhill and sideways towards the rapids and had to rely on the benevolent rescue of my brother in law to pull me back from what would have loosely been described as, an embarrassing moment. Probably to some EMTs at a later time.
All in all fun though, and it did get me thinking. A thought that had occurred to me before again occurred to me that I don't do much with my time, and that makes me feel like I don't grow as a person. It is my belief that people grow as people when they have new experiences. Now these don't need to be drastic new experiences but can just be small ones, but I believe they should be sought out. I have tried to do this on my own in the past, to do things I have never done before. Mainly just because, but also because I feel like it in some way makes a difference. Some rousing "First Time Experiences" have been *Peeing on one foot (while standing on one foot, not ... the other way you could interpret that). *Peeing while drinking something (Yes several of these have occurred while in the bathroom. It is a very cognitive place.) Sleeping upside down in my bed (not like on my face, I don't roll that way (hyuck hyuck) but facing the opposite way (surprisingly restful), and various other "firsts". But needless to say I was thinking, as I do, that I would like to achieve a "first" every day, seek it out intentionally if necessary, and then every Sunday, blog about it. I figure it will be a good way if nothing else, for me to keep track of these "firsts".
Well, so let us see. Today's "first", I took my dog around Burke Lake. Now Burke Lake is a pretty kick ass lake that has a path running the full length around it at about 5 miles. So the girl and I took the puppy (Honey Bun) on a walk around the lake to get some outdoorsy activity in today. Now nothing too fancy happened, though I had worried the walk might be too much for the puppy. Other times we had taken her on long walks when she was much younger had yielded her giving up and laying down to be dragged on the ground (Meg doesn't turn around much when she is power walking) and on another occasion getting puppy blisters (Super cute, Super Sad). But nothing too much this time, though I did learn one interesting fact. Honey Bun (my dog) can scream like a murder victim and has wicked separation anxiety. We stopped to use the public restroom and when Meg wandered off she thought she was getting abandoned (apparently she forgot I was there, not very good peripheral vision my dog) and proceeded to squeal like a squealing thing of some sort. And when some other lady came out of the restroom before Meg the dogs eyes proceeded to follow this new person (thinking it was Meg because aside from Separation Anxiety she apparently has a terminally short memory) and once this new person began to walk away she began to go nuts again because she was being abandoned again! (Again no peripheral vision). Finally Meg came out and Honey Bun nearly pooed herself in happiness, or maybe just because she is a dog and that is what she does. But I must say my heart felt warmed when I went to the restroom and she proceeded to lose her shit when I was walking away. I thought it was just separation anxiety with Meg, but it is good to know that I fill a special (able to feed me when I'm hungry) hole in Honey Bun's heart.

Thankfully when we got home she passed the crap out from all the exertion. I wanted too also but Meg dragged me back out to be active some more. Personal fail, but I did get my new activity in for the day. So it was a success.

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