[Nevertheless] Each Trek is a New Adventure

We've been on this hike many times before - walked the same path, climbed the same hills, traversed the same rocks. We've taken this trek in snow and ice, extreme heat and humidity, and in between. We've shared the trail with friends and family members, or gone just the two of us. We've done it all before, nevertheless, each trek is a new adventure.

Yesterday, on our seventeenth hike of the year, if I'm counting correctly, we once again hit the trails of Sessions Woods in Burlington, CT (or Bowling Pin, which is what I heard my husband say on the phone). According to Coren, our thirteen year old, there were fire breathing chickens and students turned into ferrets along the way. It's funny how our teen with high functioning autism and low motivation to hike will willingly hike if there's a chance that the new Harry Potter Wizards Unite game will have Inns and other things along the way ... which it did. That in and of itself was a new adventure for Coren.

Along the way, we encountered a turtle. It was nice to take a little break to watch and photograph it as it made its way across the path.

 

Jim and I shared some nice conversation about work, life, health, and our upcoming Camp Calumet adventures. 

Another turtle skittered across our path, quickly immersing itself in the foliage beside the trail.

We heard it before we spotted it - a barred owl, high in a tree, calling perhaps to its mate. Upon receiving an answer, it flew to a tree slightly closer to call and listen again, until eventually it flew deeper into the woods, toward the response.

Many times in life, we find ourselves on the same path, doing the same thing, encountering the same difficulties, over and over, season after season, year after year. Perhaps, if we took the time to discover something to make the journey more enjoyable, or looked around for new or unique sights and experiences along the way, or invite others to wander with us for a while, we could enjoy life more fully.