Just Not Ready

Today was the perfect day to hike to a waterfall.

So we did.

Maybe hike isn't the correct word to describe our journey. It's more than a hike. 

In Taiwan, its called river trekking.

No matter its name, its quite a workout for this short, half-blind, middle age American!

Parking above the stream, we first had to make our way through the weedy and bushy slope down to the river. When I say river, do not picture an expanse of water. Do not think of America's broad and water-filled Mississippi or even the Ohio River. Those are flat land rivers.

The river I am speaking of is in the mountains. Its borders are hard to define due to all the large boulders and rocks that have tumbled down from the higher ground. The water's course often divided by these landslide deposits. Shallow, it rapidly flows through small and big obstacles.  Often the only passable route is through the water. Clear, cool, deep pools of water often await those willing to climb, crawl, leap, and navigate through nature's obstacle course. A course whose end you can only hear, not see.

I love the challenge.

I shouldn't, but I do.

In case you don't know, I am short; very short. I have the stride of a second grader. River trekking occasionally calls for stepping, sometimes jumping, across large expanses.  

Another challenge for me is my eye sight. With a small field of vision, I usually see what is directly ahead of me. This makes knowing what's around me difficult. It also makes following someone impossible.

Another result of a small field of vision is the loss of depth. Most people don't know this. Neither did I until I suddenly started tripping down steps on a regular basis. Depth perception requires a large field of vision. So while river trekking, I am never sure how far down my next step truly is. What my eyes think is only a few inches can actually be a few feet. 

But, despite these hurdles, I still enjoy the journey.

Maybe that's because I am not alone.

God has blessed me with an amazingly patient husband.

Carl, holding my hand, instructed, guided, steadied, and pulled me along the way.