An Adventurous Life

A friend asked me the other day, "How do you manage to live such an adventurous life?" Taken aback, I thought "Surely he isn't referring to my recent close call in the airplane crash..." I got to thinking about the nature of "adventures" (dictionary definition: 1. An undertaking of a hazardous nature, a risky enterprise. 2. An unusual experience or course of events marked by excitement and suspense) as well as the last year and a half when he and I have been getting to know each other's lives.
And you know what? I really have had some adventures, until recently of the most enviable kind...In April of 2010 my long time buddy Jessica Straus and I took a three week trip to France,where we rented a car and drove around studying a detailed road map to visit outsider art sites and ended up being delayed in Paris (tough, eh?) for a few days while we waited for the smoke and ash to clear following the eruption of the volcano in Iceland. THAT was an adventure! And then if I think about all the times I've gone on curling trips out of state or to Canada with either my women's team or any mixed team, well, every single one of those trips has been an adventure. Although this summer has been an exception (we never got our boats in the water) Bart and I choose kayaking over any other summer activity; every single one of these trips has had its element of adventure. Another trip abroad this spring, this time with Bart, to Scotland to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Driving a car with right hand drive, on single lane roads covered with sheep above steep drop offs into the ocean on far flung islands...before we left for Scotland that same volcano (or was it another one?) posed a threat to air travel. Travel is always an adventure, a risky enterprise. That flight between Matinicus and Owl's Head has been done thousands of times all year round without incident over the years. Who would have thought that a routine 15 minute flight in my own backyard in Maine would have resulted in the biggest adventure of my life? So, I have given this some thought, Richard, and you know what? I could go on. I love my adventurous life and won't stop stepping out my door or getting on a plane, big or small, to continue to live it fully.
On the other hand, I am decidedly NOT interested in doing what Bart's parents, ages 82 and 79, are doing right now: sailing the Maine, N.H. and Massachusetts coasts to get back to Old Lyme, CT. We heard only a fraction of THEIR adventures last night and I say "No, thank you!" to THAT! Something to do with my intimate experience of the water temperature, I suspect.