Letter #24 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor,

Par for the course, first I don’t write you for several months, and then I send you two letters smack dab in a row.

About a month after our trip to Depot Bay that I told you about, I went with Adriana and two of her friends I had just met to Leavenworth. No, not the prison, the pretty Bavarian-style village a couple hours from my home.

Once again, I took my Keens along.

One morning, I got up early, determined to go hiking. I got dressed into shorts and a workout shirt, my Keens, and off I went. I planned on being gone for at least an hour or two.

Problem #1: There were little pieces of cotton flying everywhere, and I mean everywhere. (I had just been to the naturopath a few weeks earlier and was told I was allergic to dust and flowers. I wasn’t sure if cottonwood fluff was in this same category.) I tried not to hold my breath as I walked through the woods next to the river.

Problem #2: I had to go pee ten minutes into my hike. Not half an hour, not an hour, ten fricken minutes. It’s not like I could pull over to the side of the trail and pee in the bushes. (Well, I could, but I could also get arrested.) There were people everywhere, due to the popularity of this hike.

Problem #3: I finally turned around in a huff—when you have to go, you have to go—as I was not having a very relaxing hike, and halfway up the sandy path to our condo, I was startled by a snake. It was at least an inch thick. I think I jumped about three feet over to the right of the pathway, which is no easy feat, I tell you, for an overweight, middle-aged woman. The only saving grace about this problem #3 was that I did not, I repeat did not pee my shorts.

I will try to keep you abreast of my hiking adventures; hopefully, the next one will not include reptiles of any kind.

Sincerely,

Marie

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!