We move on and don’t process. Take in moments and don’t move on.
Deena Kastor, Bronze Medalist, 2004 Olympics
My fractured knee, meniscus tear, and Baker’s cyst made my plans to hike favorite trails in the Shenandoah National Park seem not only ambitious, but also foolish. While waiting for lunch the first day, I fell off a sidewalk and sprained my ankle. With determination, a carbon knee brace, and a makeshift ankle brace, my husband and I continued with our agenda.
What happened? An easy, one-mile hike that usually took seventeen minutes took over an hour. My husband and I sat longer than we walked. Our slow pace continued the following days.
The trail became our destination instead of an overlook or a waterfall or the completion of a trail’s loop.
We asked park rangers questions. We watched butterflies. We attempted to identify bird songs. We watched a doe chase—and then nurse—her fawn.
We studied trees and gave them suitable names.
We compared wildflowers.
Because of my injuries, we took in our moments. We processed. We savored. I declared our four days the best of our forty years of hiking
Do you have time to process?
See Here for Part 1.
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