Throwing caution to the wind

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Throwing caution to the wind #303409 03/29/07 09:52 AM
Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 110 Marin County, California K Kat Wilder OP Jellyfish
OP Kat Wilder Jellyfish K Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 110 Marin County, California	I'd like to say that the hikes I look forward to on the weekends are some sort of spiritual connection back to nature, a journey that awakes in me the most organic way. Well, it's kinda like that ï¿½ I mean, I do notice the wildflowers that are starting to pop up all over, I've heard the chipmunks and lizards rustling in the bushes, I've maneuvered myself just in time to save one banana slug or another from a certain messy death underfoot and on Sunday, an Anna's hummingbird hovered above long enough for me to marvel at its iridescent beauty. But mostly the trail is a sanctuary for me to think, think, think and then ï¿½processï¿½ whatï¿½s happening in my life and my friends'. Some of us are faring better than others ï¿½ the kids are doing well, the careers are moving along, the ex isn't giving us too much grief, we've met someone who's fun to hang with. For others, it's one struggle or another ï¿½ or perhaps all of them at once. I'm not so sure it's much easier for the married among us, either. If you're 15-plus years into a marriage, well, there's a lot of ï¿½ how can I put this delicately? ï¿½ stuff going on. So I was deep in thought, trying to figure out a way to help a friend who is so wanting to find a partner and another whoï¿½s still hurting after being cruelly dumped. Plus, of course, my own woes ï¿½ there are a few things I'm anxious about, a few I'm sad about, something I'm confused about and another I'm [censored] off about. Sit next to me at a bar or the bus, and I'm not quite sure which emotional state you're going to get. That's when I passed by an old bay laurel tree that had fallen over, its massive roots exposed. The tree took with it a huge portion of the trail ï¿½ it would be impossible to miss the gaping hole that it left ï¿½ but still, someone had cordoned the area around the tree with "caution" tape. Where, I wonder, is the "caution" tape for us, especially when our "roots" are exposed, when we are left vulnerable to life? Not ï¿½cautionï¿½ as in ï¿½watch out, stay away: needy, hormonally-challenged woman ahead,ï¿½ but ï¿½be kind: sheï¿½s sorting out some tough things.ï¿½ Should we be wrapped in yellow tape announcing a (one hopes, temporary) frailty that demands and deserves a more gentle touch, or do we somehow project that anyway? And, perhaps more important, would we find shoes to match? Kat Wilder: My so-called midlife

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