Your Mom just texted me that you “survived” a roundtrip 1.8-mile, flat hike while I’m hanging back on a work day. Sometimes when we push you on hikes or other physical activities you complain that you’re “too tired” and your body can’t do it. As if that same body didn’t walk for 20 miles a day just a couple of months ago in Europe.
Of course, you also tell us you want to climb Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Sister, let me tell you that those are longer, tougher hikes. And you’ll be able to do them. The body is an amazing vessel that can do whatever the mind tells it. We just have to make sure your mind is in a “let’s do this” mode when it counts.
Some fun, mind you is, Type 2 fun. That’s to say that it’s not all fun in the moment but fun to remember in retrospect. That’s not as fun as Type 1 fun, which is fun in the moment, but way better than Type 3 fun, which is never really fun in the moment or memory. We can thank writer Kelly Cordes for the fun scale to measure activities by.
Your Mom and I experienced a mix of Type 1 and Type 2 this past weekend when we went on a couple’s trip to fish the Kenai River in Alaska. Neither of us had been to Alaska in the summer, and it was your Mom’s first visit to the 49th state in the union. You and Matteo hung back with Grandma Vicki to have your own fun at the Hartstene Pointe pool and beaches.
So much our Type 1 fun was just being together without distraction (no offense). Like I say, “marriage first.” Everything goes and grows from that baseline. You and Matteo have a lot to say, so the quietness of the river was nice and the times we caught our Sockeye was the real fun part. Your Mom definitely reeled in the bigger, frisky fish and it was fun to watch and help her net them. Now we have a full freezer and a great dinner menu for the rest of summer. Mission accomplished.
We had so much Type 1 and Type 2 fun that we’ve been discussing if we’ll bring you and Matteo next year. You don’t have to work hard or even walk much for the activity, but fishing requires patience. We want to make sure that repitious casting (a method called flossing) doesn’t creep into boring and Type 3 fun for you. We’ll see.
Love, Dad