When I was a kid, I was busting out of a family that was falling apart and far too young to be out on my own. Most of my energy was dedicated to figuring out how to do mundane things like rent an apartment or get a job. But, being young at heart and without adult supervision, I naturally filled my recreational activities with things no adult would ever consent to. I considered it a great opportunity, one of the greatest. Of course, today, with 20-20 hindsight, I am grateful I survived many of the adventures I created for myself and resolved not to share them with my children until they were adults for fear they would see me as a model.
Some of my great ideas included walking into Superior National Forest off the trail with no real map and compass training and getting supremely lost in big wilderness. Glad to have survived that. Or diving into granite quarries from unreasonable heights into water of unknown depth. I definitely had the company of my guardian angel on more than one such occasion. The list goes on, but the point is I craved adventure, and I still do.
I give myself little doses throughout the year by going into the backcountry alone with my dog, and I fill my daily life with BIG adventures like working to eliminate the stigma around mental health and substance use disorders (more about that here). These feed my need for adrenaline regularly, as you might imagine. Yet, every once in a while, I want to do something that rides the line and doesn’t really take any significant risk but keeps the spirit alive. This last weekend my daughter, Ruchi, and I were shopping and, at the last minute, decided to take our German shepherd dog (GSD), Kaya, into the store with us.
Taking a GSD into a store differs from taking a smaller dog. They must be good listeners and have positive responses to surprises from people, like little kids suddenly running past. Well, Kaya exceeded our expectations. She stayed by my side, followed her commands, and was willing to keep her nose out of trouble, which can be exceedingly hard for a GSD as their sense of smell is as primary to them as our vision is to us. Ruchi, my daughter, meanwhile watched how people were reacting. Here’s what she has to say about that (she is sitting behind me as I write):
“Some were like, ‘Oh wow! Is this allowed?’ Others were like… ‘Shepherd… in a judgemental way.’ And others were like, ‘Ohhhh, you can bring your dog here – can we do that?'”
Of course, I was interested in how the staff would react. Nonchalantly it turns out. And all that was a little part of my adventure Saturday night.
What adventures are you planning for the week ahead?
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
– Helen Keller
