Ready?
Okay.
Make everything you can into an adventure.
Let's use my last Tuesday as an example. Here was my day...
On Monday, it snowed heavily in my area. That night, the temperature dropped drastically, freezing all that snow into ice. By morning, there was a sheet of ice an inch thick. My car wouldn't even back out of the driveway (I have a sloping driveway). So, there was only one way to get to work...
- 5:00 am. Woke up. Dang it was cold.
- 6:30 am. Got dressed. Let me explain. To walk, in the snow, ice and below freezing temperatures, requires a lot of layers. Layers that can open while walking, and close up tight while waiting for late buses.
- 6:50 am. Left the house, on foot. See here is where I could have grumbled about having to travel 14`miles (both ways) in the freezing cold, up hill (both ways), or I could choose for it to be an adventure.
- 7:10 am. The bus I was suppose to take left the bus stop. I, however, was still walking, slowly. Apparently, a sheet of ice requires a different gait than a clear street.
- 7:20 am. I stood at the top of the hill, looking at the two bus stops within site, deciding which looked less treacherous. While there, the sun started to lift over the yonder hill. See, here was another place where I could decide to complain, or make this an adventure, and admire the view of a frozen city.
- 7:30 am. At the bottom of the hill (only slipped a few times), I stopped and sat at the bus stop, to wait for the next bus. There were two buses to take, and I had planned in two misses, so even if I missed each bus once, I would still be to work on time. Dang, it was cold. I considered heading back.
- 7:40 am, the bus arrives. I climb aboard. The point of no return.
- 7:50 am. The first truly odd person arrives on the bus. Very quickly, all of us normal people (yes, I do get to count myself on that side) are out numbered by some, um, eccentric people.
- 8:00 am. We pull into the depots at the airport. If I miss the transfer bus here, there's a half hour wait, in the cold, for the next one. But there's only a 2 minute window between when my bus is "scheduled" to arrive and the other is scheduled to leave. I leapt off the bus, rushed from Depot 1 to Depot 2 and make it. Swinging aboard.
- 8:02 am. The bus pulls out, on my way to work. I look at my fellow passengers. Hmmm, and I thought the last crowd was... notable.
- 8:40 am. The bus drops me off in front of my work. Arrived, with little trouble, early.
The way back should have been the same, only in reverse. Well, of course, nothing works as it should.
- 5:00 pm. Rush out of work, walking fast. (The sidewalk was much clearer down at work). Two blocks up, reach the light. Cross the highway. Rush two blocks back to reach the bus stop, to catch the bus at 5:06. Half way there, in all my cold-weather gear, I started wondering if running across the lanes of the highway like a maniac wouldn't have been better.
- 5:04 pm. Reach the bus stop. It's filled with grumpy men wondering out loud when the bus will ever come.
- 5:06 pm. The bus home arrives. I'm tired. Heavy sigh. Climb aboard the bus. Wait, okay, here is another part where I need to make it an adventure. I look at my seat-partner. Okay, adventure over. Grumble.
- 5:30 pm. I look up to see if my stop is coming. Don't want to forget to pull the cord to stop the bus. Unfortunately, it's a bit harder to see out of the bus in the dark. Panic. Did I miss it.
- 5:40 pm. Of course not. What would be the odds that there wouldn't be at least one person who had to stop at the airport. We pull in, I jump out and...
- 5:41 pm. Just in time to see the connecting bus pull away. Dang. Half hour wait. Yeah, yeah. I know. Make it an adventure. A cold, stinking adventure.
- 5:45 pm. Actually, it's kinda fun, watching the travelers rush for the airport, or seeing the incoming travelers from all over the world trying to figure out the local buses. Ha! Good luck with that.
- 5:55 pm. It's cold and dark. Exhaust fills there air. But you know what? This part feels like an adventure. Amidst the hussel and bussel of world travelers, watching them run along side my own adventurous travel.
- 6:00 pm. The weird guy standing near me starts muttering and dancing spasmodically. Okay, it's taking a little more effort to be an adventure.
- 6:10 pm. The bus arrives. Well, no, it didn't. Each person starts to check the schedule, nonchalantly of course. Wouldn't want the others to think we're inexperienced at taking the bus.
- 6:20 pm. Okay, now all of us are checking the schedule. Is this the adventure part?
- 6:21 pm. The bus arrives. Yeah, well, we knew it would. No problem.
- 6:40 pm. Hey, couldn't have a bus ride without a weird person. By this point, they are no longer odd, eccentric or unique. They're weird. Pure and simple. This one got on arguing with herself and ended up blowing up at the driver, for unknown reasons.
- 6:55 pm. The last weird individual leaves the bus.
- 7:00 pm. My bus stop arrives. Woosh. The adventure part was wearing thin.
- 7:01 pm. Now there's only the 40 minute walk, on the ice, in sub-freezing temps, uphill this time. Sigh.
- 7:05 pm. But first, stop at Safeway to pick up essentials. Okay, can't take too long, right? Right?
- 7:06 pm. Oh, right. I forgot. The news threatened snow. The crowds are there to strip the shelves. I battle the crowds. The unwashed masses. Some of them live up to that name.
- 7:26 pm. Great. Done. Get in line.
- 7:27 pm. The lines are longer than a line at the only ladies' room at a stadium.
- 7:46 pm. On my way home. Whoosh. What a line.
- 7:47 pm. Oh. Yeah. Forgot. 40 minute walk. Ice. Freezing. Uphill. Adventure.
- 7:57 pm. That hill just gets more steep with every step.
- 8:00 pm. Still walking, very slowly. Freezing winds. Dark. Can't see the smooth ice until I fall. Each time.
- 8:30 pm. Arrive home. Took a little longer to get back. It seems, when I'm tired, I tend to walk slower than when I first got up. And I walk slower up hill than I do down hill. Imagine that.
- 8:31 pm. Home. Adventure over. Woohoo.
Now I only need to cook dinner, feed the kids. Get them ready for bed and get them to sleep.
Only the TV warns of worse storms coming. We need food. The driveway has partially cleared from the rocksalt I spread that morning. We need food. I climb into my truck. Turn on the four-wheel drive. Back out onto the ice sheet. Slide slightly.
10:00 pm. Drive away, slowly. Back to the store. To drive on ice.
To adventure.
