Having Adventures

Remember when you were a kid, and how exciting the last day of school was? Suddenly, the whole summer stretched in front of you, seemingly endless. The only commitment you had was a week or two at summer camp, or vacation bible school.

My mother didn't drive, so anything we did during the summer had to be within walking distance. Luckily, the library was close, so nearly every day I walked the mile or so to the branch library and picked up an armload of books. I remember lying in a hammock in the back yard, whiling away a hot summer day lost in the fantasy world of whatever book I was reading, the sun sparkling through the leaves of the trees overhead like the facets of a jewel.

An afternoon could easily be passed making necklaces of clover, or lying in the grass watching ants build a hill. I pretended that my bicycle was a pony, and, although I couldn't leave the block, had many imaginary adventures as I rode up and down our street. Evenings running through the sprinklers or chasing lightning bugs ended all too soon when Mom called us in to get ready for bed. But the next day, and the next, it all would still be there, the days stretching out one after the other.

I'm grown up now, and a summer day is much like any other day--get up, go to work, come home and do what needs to be done to keep a household running, and get up and do it all over again the next day. It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget what made summer so magical when we were kids.

Even though I have to go to a job now, and can't spend my days reading in a hammock or riding my bike to fantasy adventures, I try to build as much adventure and fun into my summer as possible.

In Living Juicy, SARK reminds us that "Adventures are available in all sizes:"

Adventures can be tiny, or large, depending on your mood. You don't need a lot of time or money to have one. Willingness to be drawn into adventure is necessary.

Our souls like variety. I think that souls smile at adventure. Study adventure and its effects on your soul. Try this: create an adventure.

Walk backwards to the store
Write poetry on the street for free
Dance by moonlight in a park
Write a treasure hunt for your best friend

In our automobile-driven society, sometimes just walking somewhere can be an eye-opening adventure. Last summer I walked to my brother-in-law's house to take them some typing I had done and they were amazed that I hadn't driven the car, even though their house is only a couple of miles away from mine. But I had never walked there before, and the journey was a mini-adventure. I had never noticed the rock wall that runs along the street between our houses, and never knew that there was a gated road behind it, marked Private--who could it be who lives there? The speculation is, in itself, an adventure.

Eating outdoors always seems like an adventure to me, so I try to do it as often as possible when the weather cooperates. To have a lunchtime adventure, pack your lunch and a book, walk (or drive) to a park, and spend as long as you can enjoying the fresh air and solitude before you have to go back to work.

Anything that's different from what you normally do can be an adventure--driving a different way to work, shopping in a different part of town, getting up an hour early and enjoying the quiet house. And then you can go to bed an hour early and have adventures in your dreams.

Last night when we took the trash out to the curb, I saw lightning bugs, and I thought of long summer evenings spent capturing them in hole-punched glass jars and marveling at their ability to create light. They reminded me that we all create our own light, and we all create our own adventures. Life is an adventure--enjoy it.