Hike Up a Hill

There's soup & then there's stew. Much like there's walking & then there's hiking. We began by hiking up the hill leading to our backyard. Dad had us helping out with building up the area. We were elementary school kids & finding the stones & rocks that could help build up the scene best. There was a pathway up the side, then we'd approach a finished section where there were planting boxes. Tomatoes, rhubarb, strawberries, & herbs...Plenty more grew in those spaces. Then we'd proceed up alongside the grassy section more (the section where good weather family gatherings would be set up, where we'd play this & this, & where we'd hang out our laundry to dry in the beautiful weather sunshine & breezes).

Maybe that's where from my adoration for hiking derived. There'd be a peaceful serenity in developing that area off the edge of our backyard. It was reflective space & time where we'd be wearing clothes meant for the project & we could relax. We'd be one with the elements. While hiking we most often were out of the sun as the trees guiding our paths would shelter us.

While we'd be camping there were many times when we'd go places (sometimes right on the campground's property) where we'd be able to pick which beaten path we wanted to follow along. When it hadn't just rained, these paths were extremely fun & exciting to follow along. Stumbling through tree roots & bizarre rock tips (which sometimes would be too slippery & rather unsafe whenever it had just rained) quickly became a welcome challenge of my childhood. Dad would often help us kids find tree limbs which we'd custom into walking sticks. At that age we'd use them regardless of whether or not we actually needed them; they were simply fun to use & have along. If they became impractical or annoying in any way, it was a luxury that we'd be able to toss them aside & discard them along the way just as quickly as we'd picked them up.

These days there's options like this or this, or any of these. Not everyone wishes to have the most rugged hiking experience, though like many similar activities, a glory of hiking is being able to make each experience unique & justifiably as each individual wishes theirs to be.

I've been craving going camping; I've also been craving going on a hike. Some might ask, "What defines 'going on a hike'?" I definitely do not define my hikes by "hiking" up a hill in a neighborhood. Rather, definitely not in a suburban neighborhood. Country road neighborhoods are on a different scale. And I've a feeling those local to those type of neighborhoods wouldn't consider their streets to be of hiking material.

I think of going to parks as places to hike. There are plenty of parks which cater to various purposes & many of them have an extensive line up of beaten as well as unbeaten hiking paths. Then there are state parks too.

I think of a paved street in American suburbia as going on a walk. After all, there's soup, & then there's stew. 😊😏😉😂

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