I’ve been married for three years, nine months and about 40 weeks. But who’s counting? The thing I’ve learned during my marriage is that you never stop learning about your spouse. You think you’ve figured them out and then they do the exact opposite of what you planned on.
They surprise you with a handwritten note or hike up a rocky hill-mountain just because they know you like doing that sort of thing. It’s the second random act of husbandry kindness that made me fall more in love with Parish.
During the recent time change weekend, I manually set the clock on my phone because it usually doesn’t do it on its own – some Smartphone! Well, during the wee hours of the morning, my Blackberry corrected my manual change and went ahead another hour. I set my alarm to come on at 8:45 a.m., but due to the mix-up, my phone alarm came on at 7:45 a.m. Confused? I was too. Regardless, I was up an hour earlier than I expected and instead of being upset (I’m a huge fan of sleep), I shouted to Parish, who was in the other room, “Hey, let’s hike Pinnacle.” He said that sounded like a good idea and in a matter of minutes, we were putting on our walking shoes, brushing our teeth and we were out the door. Getting to Pinnacle early is key – the later you go, the busier it becomes with hikers, runners and families looking for a free outlet.
We arrived at the base of the 1,011 feet mountain a little after 9 a.m. This was the first time Parish had hiked the mountain, so he really didn’t know what to expect. If you haven’t conquered Pinnacle, let me just tell you, it’s an adventure.
About halfway up the mountain, you start encountering rocks, and they only get bigger as you make your way to the top. The hike is less than a mile to the top, but you feel like you’ve hiked at least two or three because it’s so steep. We paused a few times on the way up to admire the view, catch our breath and compare heartbeats. I led the way most of the time and occasionally, I would look back and say, “Way to go P, we are almost there.”
Parish told me later that he probably wouldn’t have finished the hike if I had not encouraged him so much. He said at one point he was ready to turn around, but kept going, because of me. He knew how much I like walking up Pinnacle and spending time outdoors.
We eventually made it to the top, and it was nice to see (and feel) our determination pay off. The view from the top is absolutely beautiful, and it’s peaceful sitting on a large rock overlooking the city below. I glanced over at my husband and smiled, knowing he loved me enough to sweat up a crazy mountain and see me happy.
I’m continually reminded that it’s the small and usually free things in life that truly make you happy. I will try to keep this warm, fuzzy memory in my mind as March Madness continues to bombard me from every television screen in our home. I guess I’m still learning that there is never, ever a break in sports.
Something tells me I still have a lot to learn about this sport-watching, dinner-cooking, part time hiking, always remarkable man of mine.