Changes

Back in June, my father-in-law to be said: "A year ago, did you ever imagine you'd be doing this?" The this he was referring to at that moment was spending Friday night making bolts* for Rick's son's crossbow in preparation for an archery tournament the next day. I had to admit that particular activity wasn't even on the list of things that would have occured to me as a possibility.

I thought of this yesterday as I spent the afternoon doing something else I wouldn't have thought I'd be doing a year ago, although I have to admit yesterday's activity wasn't quite as unique. Yesterday was glorious, so Rick and I jumped on his motorcycle I took a ride to Charlestown.

Since it's pretty hard to converse with someone while on a motorcycle, I had plenty of time to think about things, and what I was thinking about is how much my horizons have been broadened since I met Rick. Not that my life was boring before, but that he has introduced me to so many new things...things I really like.

I was terrified of motorcycles, and now I look forward to hopping on the back of his and going for a ride (even though last week I got stung by a wasp during the ride. Getting stung by a wasp at 35 mph really, really, really hurts).

I always thought archery was cool, but I never did it. Turns out, I'm not a half bad shot. If we ever had the time to practice, I'd probably be pretty good. And it's fun!

Finally, I'm learning how to scuba dive. Me, who has never been a swimmer and who had a healthy fear of the water, can now swim 400 meters comfortably and is looking forward to going 60 ft below.

So, my life has really changed in the last year. I think I've become much more confident in my ability to try new things, much more willing to say "yeah, let's do it!" I feel fortunate that I have someone in my life who offers that encouragement, and who leads by example. It's fun.

Change is good. I'm looking forward to the next 40 or 50 years of it!

*for some reason that no one can fully explain to me, the arrows used for crossbows are called bolts.