Making the most of what you've got

Yesterday Jeff and I went out hiking at a recreation site about a half an hour out of town called Wascana Trails. Not long ago, I would not have called what we did going for a walk, let alone hiking. I had the idea that to really be "hiking" a person needed to be on fairly rugged terrain. And to be "going for a walk" things ought to be fairly carefree. For either, a person ought to be headed out for a reasonable distance, at least a couple of miles, otherwise the activity might better be just called "walking." What I am currently able to do I previously would have labeled "staggering" or "hobbling," and that only with assistance. Partly for this reason, we had not previously ventured to Wascana Trails, despite having been told numerous times that it's a nice area.

I sometimes avoid going places that remind me of what I wish I could do, because it makes me sad that I can't do it. That mostly it doesn't work – I am reminded of the things I wish I could do anyway, and get sad anyway, without the benefit of visiting somewhere nice. So with that in mind, and in the spirit of exploring, on a whim we decided to go check it out. It is not especially rugged terrain, but rugged enough that it was quite challenging for me, even with Jeff holding my left hand and my trekking pole in my right. We probably walked for about an hour and went nearly a mile, and I'm so glad we did. Even if I can't do the kind of hiking that I used to do, it is much better to try to approximate it in whatever way I can than to not try at all.