Monday, April 8, 2013

Spring...and I Go Slightly Crazy

There are stories my kids tell, stories of being dragged through swamps and woodlands up to their knees in ice water, struggling through brambles, lost in the wilderness for like...5 hours. Walking several kilometers in the ditch along the side of the 401 highway after a grueling trek through unknown territory. They will tell you that it is because Mom loves spring and if it doesn't come to her, she goes out to find it.

Okay, thats fine when everybody is little and Mom is young and strong and the whole thing becomes a great memory and quite a hoot.

However, I am not as young as I used to be. I decided yesterday, that the two youngest boys at 12 and 14, could use some kind of spring adventure. Just a mild one. The trails between here and the village we live near are nice and tame, well marked, clearly defined. Off we went.


You amble along these nice even paths. The boys even took their mountain bikes. We agreed to meet my daughter and her car at the other end so I could get a ride home if I was tired. I am still recovering from my car accident after all. We walked quite a way and found it a bit wet as we neared the railway tunnel.

At this point I put my camera away, safe and dry in my pocket.

It was not far to the end of the trail now, about 3 hayfield lengths, I'd say. But there was some ice and snow ahead that clearly looked like a lake. I knew it couldn't be deep. It looked pretty solid. NOT! Once we fell in up to our thighs, I figured we might as well keep going. Man, that ice water is cold. And it is hard to push a bike through.  And it seems to never end. There is cold black muck under that ice too.  My fourteen year old looks at me with this funny glare and asks me to remind him why this was a good idea. He manages to stay reasonably dry by dragging his bike through the trees, but the twelve year old loves it. He gets it. He plunges right in beside me.

And we make it through. We stand and stomp our feet to get the circulation going. We head home and warm up and change. We go out and buy new shoes which we needed anyway.

Spring is here. Don't worry boys. Mom will settle down come summer.

5 comments:

  1. Don't you just love 14-year olds..ha..
    Poor you! I guess spring needs to warm up more.

    Who would think it would be so deep.

    I am dying to get out into the open and see nature! Luckily, most Delawareans aren't energetic, because when we go hiking at a local state park, there is only a couple other people within all the hundreds of acres!

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  2. Sounds like you're still the crazy adventurous mom we experienced years ago!! Sounds like a great time...minus the water up to your thighs.

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  3. Haha, terrible!! Remind me never to go off roading with you! ;) New shoes?!? I want some!! :D

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  4. I've heard about some of your adventures. This sounds like a good one to add to your record. :)

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  5. Afterwards I was thinking it was smart to have a car waiting for you. And how your kids will have this good story to tell to their children in the future..ha!

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