Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Today is our anniversary. 20 years together!
Let’s just say it didn’t go as well as we might have hoped or deserved.
In the morning I did quite a bit of Japanese work. By the time I was done, a bunch of the morning was gone. While I was working on that, Betty was hard at work with granola.
After lunch, I felt like we really should go on a big hike. The weather was terrible, with strong winds and a super slushy snow coming down hard. My thought was: "what a great opportunity to test our cold-weather gear to see if it will work for our trip." Betty wasn’t happy about my idea, but she came along.
Within the first mile, it was clear that our cold-weather gear was not up to snuff. Everyone had wet feet, and Betty, Ian, and River were especially cold. So we called Dad to come to the rescue. After about another mile of hiking, he picked up those three, and Kimball, Anahi, Alicia, and I continued on.
We went down Main Street to 2000 south, then down towards Geneva Road. My plan was to go around by Provo High School and then get on the Provo River Trail at Lakeview Drive, but when we got past the school I realized that Kimball no longer had his rain cover on his pack. So we backtracked to see if we could find it, but when we got back to Geneva, it was nowhere to be seen. So we hopped on the Provo River Trail there, and headed back into Provo.
It was cold and a little miserable, and Kimball’s wet feet started to develop some hot spots, but we actually had a pretty good time. I asked the kids what they knew about WWII, and they actually knew quite a bit. It turned into a really great discussion about the war and some of the things we hope to see when we are in Europe.
At one point a guy stopped us and asked us what we were training for, and if we had any social media. We must be quite a sight -- even without River and Ian and Betty.
At one point, Khyve Peak (which used to be called Squaw Peak) was all that could be seen of the mountains. I'd never seen it like that.
After nearly 10 miles of hiking, we made it to Chic-Fil-A, where we were rewarded with some delicious chicken nuggets.
Then Betty came and got us, and the girls went to a youth activity.
On the way back from dropping them off, I picked up some flowers for Betty, but they didn’t really make up for the freezing, slushy hike I’d taken her on. She was not happy about the way this most important anniversary had gone. And frankly, neither was I.
In the night, I asked her what she wanted to do, and she told me: we are going to clean this house. It wasn’t really dirty, but I think Betty was just not in a very romantic mood after the cold. I deserve that. In the end, I decided to just decide to really celebrate our 20 years when we are in a better position to do it justice.
But having said all of that, I really am so very grateful to have spent the past 20 years with Betty. She is amazing! Our marriage is so important to me. I don’t know where I would be without her. I think we make a perfect team, and I’m so happy to be on this adventure with her.
In fact, I’m feeling so inspired that I just wrote this haiku:
Twenty years married
Where is Kimball’s rain cover?
Kyvhe peak peeks through clouds
Click here for photos
