Covid-19 has begun to feel like a heavy, wet blanket weighing down my soul, and I am one of the fortunate. One of the privileged. I get to run around outside, visit with friends in a respectfully distanced way, and I remain healthy, as do my loved ones. I am not struggling financially and I am not isolated. My children are with me and I am employed.
HOWEVER, I feel that I am experiencing something akin to blunt trauma. The news that comes across my newsfeed every day is sickening. Disasters and atrocities seem to roll in with relentless, wave-like crashing. From ugly politics to social injustice and from environmental horror to the piling losses that we are experiencing due to this pandemic. It feels as though we may be drowning.
I continue to conduct my mental health counseling practice out of my upstairs bathroom. I Zoom with full caseload of clients every week while Oakley, my 17 year old son, bandies around the neighborhood cooking up mischief. Nothing terrible, just a lot of reckless wandering, looking for excitement and coming up with less than great ideas.
Recently, his school district has decided that four days a week, school classes will be held virtually. That means that he will be staring at a computer screen for hours upon hours every day. I can see the wan look on his face now, the slumped shoulders, the rummy computer eyes and apathetic gait that will begin to inhabit his body. We are all trying our best, but this is not a pretty scene.
So, despite. Despite all this doom and gloom, I, in my most annoying way, will push forward. Much to Oakley’s dismay, I am kicking off what will now be known as Adventure Wednesdays. Wednesdays are the one day that Oakley will not have school and I will have a free schedule and we will simply adventure. We will break out of our routines and off our island to sally forth into the wilds. We will road bike, mountain bike, hike, cross country ski, boat, and everything and anything else we can think of. We will try to find beauty, wake up our spirits, and remember that there is always good and hope and fun in this world. We will go every week regardless of the weather. We have to.
Wednesday Number One-Mountain Biking at Bradbury Mountain
Our bikes skitter and jump and squeak as we maneuver them over rocks and roots and mud holes. Oakley is in front of me, of course he is. He effortlessly hops atop tall rounded boulders and down what I would call precipices. I grunt behind him, biting my lips and amazing myself every time I feel the muscles in my legs allowing me to crest a hill. Oakley is very strong, and although I will never be near his equal, I feel more capable physically than I ever have before and I am 51! Chasing him around over the last few years has really paid off.
I am a sissy though and when we get to sections of the trail involving boardwalks that arc up and over streams or wind, with banking edges around stands of Birch trees, I often stop dead and feel unable to even try. If he falls he bounces, if I fall, I fear I may break a hip. “Come on, mom!” he yells.
“I need to walk this Oaks!” I call back. He is unimpressed. On we go.
The forest here is full of Oaks and Maples, Birch and Pine. There are streams running through it as well as swampy areas, ravines and rocky outcroppings. It is a veritable playground and beautiful to boot. We hear chirping chipmunks, chattering squirrels, and the breaking branches from deer taking flight as we barrel through. It cool and damp today and the air itself looks green.
Oakley waits up for me every 10 minutes. Usually, he has whipped out his phone and is straddling his bike checking on important things. But, this time as I pull up beside him after seven miles of sweaty riding, he is simply resting his arms on the handlebars and taking it all in.
“Mom, it is so pretty here.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“It would be perfect if you had brought snacks.”
“Yeah sorry, next time.” I say feeling my own hollow belly rumbling.
“I am exhausted.”
“Me too.” And we are smiling as ride together to the parking lot.
If that was my report card for our first Adventure Wednesday I would say it was a solid “B”. He noticed it was pretty, we had a lot of fun, and I tired him out. Point off for forgetting the snacks.
If anybody would like to offer ideas for future, inexpensive or free Adventure Wednesday Trips, please let me know in the comment section!
Great First Wednesday Adventure! :). Great idea and making use of the free day!
hi bikemum and oaks!
this essay i think is a departure and a new direction for you. that’s exciting in itself, aye? you are revealing more about yourself, and that’s super. the photo here finally let’s us see you! hi! you two adventurers. i like seeing you both smiling kind of laughing.
i like the adventure wednesdays idea. well, it’s more than just an idea, now. i agree, it’s crazy 4 days online classes. ridiculous. i have suggested adventures/learning more than one day a week. how about two, or three? i recommend things like visiting local post office, say hi. learn about the people at the post office. how the post office works. then there’s that nature observing fun, like find an ant colony or 10 different insects. learn about weather. spend time at the local library, if it’s open. cooking, anyone? make that a learning experience. screw the online classes!
what i hope parents and kids can do is spend time together, in or out of the house. as for passing weekly tests based on the online learning, parents just have to find a way. well, your kid has to find a way.
i don’t have kids, so i’m speaking out of turn. but if i had kids, and we were facing this lockdown together, chances are i would do home schooling full time.
like you bikemum, i am financially secure (just barely) so i could stay home with kids. i have heard of teams of parents hiring a tutor to work with their kids, while the parents go to work. it’s that “bubble”concept. that bears looking into.
now i’m rambling. but i really like your wednesday adventure program. have fun with it.
hang in…you’re doing it!
ur fan,
j.
Thank you for supporting our adventuring!
Loved to see your beautiful smiling face in the photo! Glad to read about this weeks joyful adventure and I look forward to reading about more adventures. ❤️ Adventure Wednesdays sounds magical! Fantastic idea!
Thanks Siobhan! I miss you!
Is there a zoo with a “free day?”
i went to the Bronx Zoo four times before it closed up. the rhinos were out. big like tanks and grazing peacefully.
As a Mom, a mom of boys, and a cycle dreamer who reads CGOAB constantly, I loved follows your travels across US with Oakley. I smiled through your mini COVID getaway. I happily saw your first Adventure Wednesdays post. Today, I’m enjoying some sofa time and opened my August/September Adventure Cycling mag and on page 4, I saw a picture that made me say… that looks like Oakley. Perfectly captures his persona that you’ve painted for us eager readers. Imagine my surprise when I read the little text box “Strong As Oaks”. It is Oakley, I said out loud? Oh how delicious and exciting. Way to go Leah. Thank you. Look forward to reading it.
Thank you for your sweet words. I don’t know why I find this so fun, but I do. Something about sharing an adventure makes it twice as rewarding.
You have a wonderful way of telling your story and your adventures with Oakley!! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences…..it is quite enjoyable to read about them.
Thank you.