February 7 – “Hiking Test One. Complete.”

Hiking Test One.  Complete.  OK, I know I have been walking around the neighborhood with Chris for several weeks now following “The Surgery,” but yesterday we decided to try the actual hiking thing.  A real trail.  Hilly terrain.  Really challenge my walking pole.  We were going to drive over near Fredericksburg to a place called Enchanted Rock.  Staying over in Waco the extra day kind of made that one a back burner item for the time being (Chris will have another quick trip in the works, I suppose).  Instead we heeded Christi’s advice and headed over to Cameron Park in Waco.  She told us all about a great trail that they found with a thing called Jacob’s Ladder.  She was sure we would love it.

Well, that’s where we began our adventure – the parking lot for Jacob’s Ladder.  Had its own sign and everything.  But when we turned around and saw the actual creation, we were stunned.  At first glance it appeared to be a simple staircase carved into the sheer face of a cliff.  How hard could it be?  But when we looked closer, and then got closer, our horror intensified.  There were steps all right, but the rise on them (how high you had to step up to reach the next step) averaged nearly two feet.  That was not easy for my poor old knee.  Or the new one for that matter.  It was a good thing they included handrails.  Chris was even grasping for help by the time we reached the top.  I was just glad we went there first.  About a third of the way up they had added a rock bench to rest on.  And there in the rock face of the mountain behind the bench was one small, insignificant piece of graffiti.  Just one thing.  No other graffiti in sight.  It read, “You’re doing great.”  Loved it.  Some Mystery Hiker inspired us to complete the climb.  And just before we reached the final leg, after some more anguished struggling, we came across another rock face and another tiny graffiti marking.  This one, in the same handwriting, read, “Keep going.”  The Mystery Hiker had provided another word of encouragement – just what we needed to make it over the top. 

After that extreme exertion we gravitated toward the paths that seemed a bit easier.  That meant passing up on such trail options as “the Act of Faith.”  Sounds great for a spiritual retreat, but NOT for a hike.  We ended up walking along the banks of the Brazos River for about a mile and a half. All the way to the point where the Bosque River empties into the Brazos.  Very pretty sight, but then I am partial to water.  Along the way we kept our eyes open for wildlife, as always.  Chris said she saw a woodpecker and a mocking bird.  My eyes were a little closer to the ground.  I never saw a moose, but we did come across a duck, a squirrel, a shaggy wiener dog, and a huge centipede.  I know it was a centipede rather than a millipede, because I sent a picture of it to Caleb.  He asked if it was fuzzy.  It was not.  That made it a centipede.  I suppose I could have turned it over and counted the legs, but why do that when I had my “phone a friend” option? 

Oh, we couldn’t find a stuffed centipede anywhere, so we picked up the next best thing in a new friend … a chicken.  A furry gray chicken named Chuckles, because, well, you know how chickens are …

Psalms 139:5-6 says, “You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

Father, thank you for the chance to test out my new knee.  And thanks for the great hiking partner I have.  Amen.