I had Friday off work for the holiday, and spur of the moment, I decided to go to Mount Rainier to see the wildflowers. I had gone to the mountain at the end of May, but it was so overcast that I couldn’t see it, even though I was standing right under it. This time, it was clear and hot and glorious. I grabbed my coworker to come along, and we did a little hiking, a lot of sweating, and some lovely adventuring.
I've joined a group. Finally!
I've always found it fun to try new things and go adventuring. Which would be why there are random things in my storage that have fun memories but little usage. Like the fly rod, reel, and flies. And the golf clubs. And the climbing harness and shoes.
The problem I've come across is in all these things is I'm completely the novice. Which is the level below beginner. I have no skill, only a few positive experiences that make me want to do them again. And I know practice makes perfect, but it sure is more fun to practice with someone else, right? Not to mention more safe. Because let's face it, it's not super safe to go on a fishing adventure or rock climbing by myself. So I don't. Which means I don't do those things as much as I used to.
BUT! I've been intived to join a girls only (since boys are gross) adventure group by a friend of a friend who I met recently. The vehicle used to organize this group, that is now more than 65 girls strong, is Meetup.com. Have you heard of it? Do you use it?
I had heard of this site a while ago and explored it a little bit, but couldn't get in to it at the time. And while I've been brave lately and had positive experiences by myself, I sure do enjoy having company so much more. So already knowing the organizer of the group, and having met a few of the members already, I'm much more brave and ready to give it a try.
The cool thing about meetup is that I can put in my interests and it gives me a list of groups or meetups that are relevant. So I put in snowshoeing as an interest, I get back 10 different groups that list snowshoeing as an activity. Also, knitting, indie films, dog walking, sewing, and wine and beer tasting were also explored. There are tons of people doing things all the time! I just have to be brave enough to get out an join them. 🙂
So tell me, do you meetup?
The picture above is from an adventure to Desolation Lake in June 2010. Yep, sledding in June. And it was epic.
In my quest for 1.a more social life, 2.a bigger circle of people that hover between acquaintance and friend, and 3.experiencing this sleepy city in a new way, I've been out and about figuring out how to connect with people.
One of the conversations I had with a stranger left me laughing. He asked me what I do other than work. What do I do for fun?
What do I do? Well, I go to work for 8+ hours, then I come home and watch tv for 6 hours until I go to bed.
Yeah, I didn't really say that. Even though up until recently it's mostly true.
What I said was that I'm reading books on my bucket list, I'm running to prepare for a half marathon in Puerto Rico in November, summer classes started this week, and this last weekend I volunteered downtown at the Pride Festival.
He asked, did I go to the Pride Festival with friends or by myself?
Um, since I don't have any friends… I went by myself.
Yeah, I didn't say that either. I just said that yes, I had gone by myself.
And your trip to Puerto Rico, is that typical? He asked, do you always go on vacations like that?
I'm sorry, is that typical for anyone else you know? You mean you don't vacation like that? (don't worry, this is my internat dialogue.)
Nope. I will have had a year to plan and save and train for it. Besides, I didn't have a vacation for this year planned yet. And why not Puerto Rico?
He says, wow. You're more adventurous than I am.
I laughed. Really hard. Internally of course.
You see, I've always thought of myself as a homebody. I like being home. I'm just fine there, I can enterain myself, I don't feel like I'm going to die if I don't have someone else's company or somewhere to be. I can watch reruns for hours. I used to get home from work on Friday and not leave the apartment until Monday morning, though I don't do this much anymore.
Except, when there is something I want to do, or an event that catches my interest, I'd rather be out doing that than being home. And, these days, that means venturing out by myself. Which is fine. I don't mind that either. I enjoy doing things out and about as much as I enjoy being home.
I guess the point is, I've never thought of myself as adventurous. Only as practical, responsible, and the planner in my circle of friends. But now, from this perspective, all that sounds mostly boring.
I think I'll be striving more for adventurous.
Marjorie Clark 