Nature Boy

I don’t really get nature.

Not long after Kim and I started dating we went up to northern Wisconsin.  Kim grew up in that part of the state and still had friends there.  Still does, in fact.

It’s beautiful country, really, if that’s your thing, all rolling hills and winding roads.  Kim’s friends lived in a house on a hill.  As far as I could tell they had no neighbors – you could walk all the way around the building and not see another house.  It’s way out there.

This was way before any of us had kids, so it was just the four of us.  We got up there late in the day, and the next morning I found myself the only person in the house.  Everyone else had either gone to their jobs or – in Kim’s case – gone along with them. 

I was still in graduate school at the time and – as graduate students will – I had a pile of reading to do, so I took my monographs and articles out onto the deck that overlooked the road hidden below, set up a beverage and a snack, and dug in.  I spent the whole morning happily reading, taking notes, and snacking.  Other than the note-taking part, this still sounds like a great day to me.

Sometime around lunchtime Kim called to check in on me. 

“What are you doing?”

“Reading.”

“Why don’t you go for a walk?”

There was a long pause as I carefully examined my surroundings without seeing any restaurants, book stores, or other signs of human civilization that would serve as plausible destinations.

“Where would I go?” I finally asked.

“Go out and take a walk in the woods!”

"Why would I do that?"

"You can go see the trees!"

“I can see the trees fine from here.”

And yet she still married me.  Your guess is as good as mine.

We just got back from a few days up that way again, visiting friends and hanging out.  I’ll get some stories and photos posted soon.  We had a very nice time.

But I’m happy to be home.