A wild hair

As a mom of boys, every now and then I get a wild hair for adventure, more for them than for me really. This morning, for example, I decided that it would be fun to walk to a restaurant for lunch. We still have several inches of snow on the ground, with a thick layer of ice on top. Although the main roads are clear and some people are venturing out now, our cars have been trapped at the bottom of our steep driveway since Sunday evening. So we bundled up, the five of us, and headed out.

I had no idea how much of a challenge the ice layer would provide. It took us a full hour to walk 2 miles to the local Mellow Mushroom. The good news is that there was only one slip and one real scare. (My son was supposed to RUN across the road. He got half way and turned around to come back. And there was a truck not too far down the road barreling towards him. Eek! We both made the parallel of Lot's wife and the ending result. Thankfully he did finally turn and go. Hopefully he will remember to RUN when we say RUN next time!) Anyway, we all made it just fine. During the trip over, there was a temptation to whine and complain. But we pointed out, once again, that hardship is imperative in the making of character. We took full advantage of the boys' pride in persevering against hardship. I love that about boys. They are so easily "pumped up" with a good pep talk. Thankfully, Lydie was up for the challenge, too. And I know very well that tenacity is equally important in women.

Anyway, we had a prize awaiting. WARM pizza and garlic bread, cold drinks, and a well-heated restaurant. Food tastes so good after hard work. The 2-mile walk home was much easier. In fact, we made it in half the time, thanks to our full bellies. We even found ourselves singing Christmas carols and finding short-cuts. It was a good adventure. When the kids are old and gray they can tell their grand kids,

"One winter I walked 4 miles, over hills and a creek, in the icy snow, just to get a pizza..."