Shoulder Season

This is the time of year that those of us in the outdoor industry affectionately call the shoulder season.

Usually crowds are less but weather for outdoor adventures is still good—before snowfall in the High Sierra, for example. 

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to go out and enjoy the wonders of nature very much lately. For me this has been, and continues to be, the hip season. I got a hip replacement at the end of June. I’m so grateful I finally did that, especially now that I’m beginning to feel like myself again (or my leg and hip feel like they belong to my body!). 

But it’s been such a challenge. The hip season has required me to sit more, stretch more, go slow, take breaks like I haven’t done in recent years. 

It’s helped me have a deeper understanding of what it feels like to be less mobile, to not be able to always rely on my body so that I think about where I place my foot or how I can regain my balance. 

And I long for the expanse of wilderness that I can see as I drive, or imagine as I whine about the backpack trip that’s likely not going to happen on my birthday weekend next month!

But I’ve also had lots of practice at acceptance. And offering myself grace. And living with more empathy. 

And I have a newly discovered ability to finish a New York Times crossword puzzle! You’d think that might not be such a big thing, but I really thought I was incapable of doing them. They’re too difficult, I’d say. I’m not patient enough, I’d complain. I have an underdeveloped vocabulary. I’m just not good at this. 

To be fair, I do occasionally use an online hint to figure out a word now and then. But it is such a huge win for me to a) believe that I can do this and b) even enjoy it. This may seem small in the scheme of things, but it has shifted something inside me. There’s an ounce more self-confidence in me knowing that I can do something I always believed I couldn’t…

So while the hip season has been immensely challenging for me, it has also opened up new opportunities—ways I can stretch myself emotionally and even intellectually (if you count remembering that kryptonite is Superman’s undoing when asked in a crossword puzzle clue!). 

Where is the unexpected growth you’ve had lately?