simple pleasures

this is a post sort of about the venture challenge but-

no, ok. it is about the venture challenge. but also about some larger things.

sometimes it's hard for me to get out of bed, hard for me to get up the energy to go somewhere or do something, but i do pretty well with a list of fun activities with some kind of goal.

in my youth i liked backpacking, but let's face it. my knees and back do not carry that kind of load, and i simply can't carry enough gear to sleep comfortably, and i can't risk sleep deprivation.

but because canoe camping was on last year's venture challenge, i tried it. and now i have remote camping back in my life. comfortably, too, because you can tow a LOT of gear on a paddleboard behind your kayak.

i like to read, too. i sort of stopped doing a lot of reading for a while because i had trouble concentrating and sometimes focusing my eyes, plus i like to have someone to talk to about the book who is maybe also reading it, and i have sort of lacked that.

but mb likes to read, and we have taken to reading books together, which is also a nice togetherness activity that we can do even though we're not together a lot.

and i learned last summer how gloriously lovely it is to put my feet up on a summer day in a nice outdoor setting and read.

and doing that is on this year's venture challenge! and bonus points if it's a library book! and i love libraries!!

so. i had never read the hobbit, and mb had only read it long ago, so i went down to the library and checked that out and on friday when i was out at button bay state park i decided to stop at that little bench that overlooks the water halfway out to the nature center and read a chapter.

so that was nice.

plus, you know. ten points.