A Creature of Habit ~ Blog 24

I would have taken this picture, had I remembered
my phone, it not been raining, and I not been a wimp.

Moving around the country is a way of forcing yourself to try new things. For The Wife and I, it only works for a short period of time.

We've already had to ban ourselves from going to Boston Beerworks, our favorite Boston pub food spot. TW and I will fall in love with a place and dine there so often that we never want to eat there again. Hence our recent ban on Beerworks, which has excellent bar food and over a dozen of their own beers on tap. Just talking about it makes me want some.

Everybody has a comfort zone. Some people think TW and I lead an exotic life. TW's sister-in-law, PTA, always says wonderful things about our little family bouncing around the country from spot to spot or eating in different locations. What people don't see is how we order Buffalo wings, nachos and a bacon cheeseburger at pretty much every bar and grill we go to. At the Thai restaurants, it's pad thai. At the Chinese places, it's hot and sour soup.

Occasionally, I convince myself to try something new. Such was the case today, when it was decided Daisy Duke and I would go off to The Fellsway for a hike. The Fells, as it's called, is a fantastic recreation area about 15 minutes from our house. There are large bodies of water for Daisy Duke to float around in; there's a small hill with a stone lookout tower that I've always wanted to check out.

It was a rash decision to go hiking this morning, made out of frustration with the status quo. I have literally nothing to do today. The house is picked-up-ish, there's plenty of food in the fridge and the car has finally been legally registered in Massachusetts. Damnit, Daisy Duke and I were going to try something new.

I put on a sweatshirt, a Red Sox cap (when in Rome), and we went to the car. It was raining faintly, but it wasn't enough to convince me not to go. We're trying something new whether I like it or not.

On the drive to The Fells, I started thinking about how I didn't have a jacket. And it's raining harder now. No, damnit, we're trying something new.

Then I started thinking about how the dog would get muddy. No, damnit, we're going to The Fells.

We'd just popped out of the Big Dig tunnels on Interstate 93 when I noticed three huge DOT snow plow trucks drive by in the opposite direction. They were overloaded with sand. Apparently, this little rain storm is supposed to turn to ice and snow.

I looked to my right at Daisy Duke, who was curled into a tight ball in the front seat so she could nap. This dog doesn't have any grand plans for today. She won't know what she's missing. We went home.

Trying new things is hard. Some of the most-cherished experiences, hobbies and foods in my life come from feeling uncomfortable about trying something new. Who would have thought I'd like downhill skiing?

But there's a limit to what makes sense. And there's nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, except for a possible date night with TW. Maybe I'll order something different, like vegetarian chili on my order of nachos.