Kayaking with the Hills

My friend, Natalie, is my friend. I say that because I've learned through the years that I haven't always understood what a friend is and have been surprisingly hurt by people I thought were my friends, but weren't. But Natalie is exactly what I need. We go walking three times a week, and we talk and talk and talk. Sometimes she suggests that we sit and talk after we're done with walking, but I would rather feel like we never finish so that we can just pick up when we start the next time ;-)

She's been trying to arrange things to do with the four of us (John, Dan, Natalie and me), and I've been hesitant. I kinda worry that if she really gets to know John and me, she might decide that we aren't for them. In other words, I want to maintain a bit of mystery ;-) She got us to go out to dinner the first time (Steve and Rocky's, a GREAT and upscale restaurant where a man needs to wear a collared shirt), and then we went over to their home to play games. They aren't quite on the level we are with games, but the charcuterie tray she serves us? Heavenly!

They like to bike, and they keep inviting us, but I'm not even sure we own a helmet, so when they suggested kayaking, I was on board! (see what I did there?) We even arranged it with the girls' work schedules that they could come too. A Wednesday afternoon, kayaking down the Huron River, in Pure Michigan. It doesn't get any better in summertime.

It IS funny to see us in life vests because the water wasn't more than a foot deep....and we're SCUBA trained swimmers! But the rental company required them.

I don't need to write about the experience, because it was a typical kayaking trip, but it was for my introverted self, a very atypical social experience. I've been working on lowering the bar I have for myself and for other people, and I've discovered that I'm able to enjoy so much more about life when I do. It was one of the best social experiences I've ever had. I was relaxed and happy and just able to enjoy the moment instead of having a million different voices in my head telling me how I need to act, worrying about how I'm acting, and trying not to act in a way that people won't like me.

We were out a little over two hours, and at the end, I was ready to do it all over again. I was driving, so I took us to Culver's for dinner, and we drove home with the windows rolled down.

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