This determination to DO SOMETHING, that is. To be specific, it was a ride on the back of a little Yamaha motorcycle piloted by my friend Bryan. He was visiting from Alaska by way of the Philippines and had surprised the hell out of me, first by announcing his intention of visiting but more surprisingly by actually visiting. When I explained his trip to my friend Sherry she said that nothing he did surprised her. I wonder why it is then that he occasionally manages to sneak one in on me?

Like “Let’s take the bike over to the coast” sounded for all the world like one of those ideas he is prone to that sound like a lot of fun, but somehow get abandoned before they ever get off the ground. I have learned not to get too excited about his suggestions until I see concrete evidence that they might actually occur.

For example when we are actually on the bike traveling east down my road, and I am trying to figure out how to balance my gigantic helmeted head so that it is not bonking the back of his but allows me to lean in the appropriate direction at the appropriate time. At first I cling to him like a baby koala, especially around the turns. Halfway to St. Augustine I loosen up a little and begin to enjoy the scenery. I tell him that this is why I wanted to see, not so that I could put my feet down. Don’t worry, I say, you have drilled that into my head quite well – no feet down! – but no offense, staring at the back of your head for 5 hours is not my idea of great scenery.

So the trip was fairly uneventful. We had lunch in Crescent City, continued southeast to the coast and then headed back north to St. Augustine. We threaded the tourist-infested streets and headed back home. But you notice things on a motorcycle that you ignore in a car. I don’t know whether it is proximity, vulnerability, or in my case the fact that you can’t talk to the other person. But I did a lot of thinking and noticing on that trip and I learned some things.

1) Going fast around turns on a motorcycle is fun!

2) Five hours is a bit much!

3) St. Augustine really isn’t that far away and we passed several cool surf shops there.

4) We passed some nature trails, state preserves, and a butterfly garden that all looked worthy of further investigation.

5) We used to do a lot of fun stuff like kayaking and hiking and rollerblading and biking.

6) I don’t really anymore. I haven’t even been surfing in forever. I wonder why that is? Partly because I’m usually busy. But I’m not always busy, I think I just let the busy/stressed feeling carry over into when I am not. Then instead of cashing in on some time to do something fun I am recuperating from the busy. It’s also partly because I’ve lost my adventure buddy. This places the responsibility of creating fun squarely on me. Yikes, am I up to that?

 So. Here I am. I have some time. That’s one excuse down. I also have the distinct feeling that while many things are more fun with Bryan, I may grow even more by doing them on my own. Or at least taking the initiative and seeing if I can find other adventure buddies along the way. Wendy for example. She refuses to rollerblade with me but has agreed to bring her bike so she can pedal while I skate. And while I doubt I’d get her on a surfboard, I don’t think that precludes a trip to the beach. 

I’ve also discovered group instruction in both surfing and kayaking. This is exciting because it offers not only a way to improve, but also an opportunity to meet others who enjoy the same activities. Perhaps even a paddle- or surf-buddy.

“This is only a possibility. . . .in a world of possibilities”

Look out world, here I come! 

 Although there are days when doing nothing is the most delicious thing I can think of to do with myself, often I spend time that way due to lack of an immediately obvious alternative. And lack of a partner in crime. I was less likely to do nothing all day when Bryan was still in town. Granted school was harder then and a lot of times our solution was to head to Borders, where he settled in with a double soy raspberry macchiatto and a stack of “Nuts and Volts” or “Mother Earth News” or both, depending on his mood and current great idea. I would sit across from him with a Diet Coke or a fancy hot chocolate and attempt, often in vain, to read my notes. Bryan was ALWAYS more entertaining, even when his explanation of the binary clock he wanted to build was more foreign to my brain than the impossibly long Latin names of muscles I was dutifully trying to memorize.  At the 10th or 12th interruption my patience would begin to wear thin. Really, who can learn anatomy with a wellspring of perpetual enthusiasm and the need to constantly share it sitting across the table? (I’m very interested in the composting toilet, B, but that won’t help me on my exam. . . )

So as I realized that I would have a break this summer, I also realized that it was essential that I DO SOMETHING with it. If what I felt like doing was nothing, then that was fine too. As long as it was a conscious choice and not an ingrained default pattern. There is actually a word for that. I think it’s Chinese although I may be mistaken. Wu wei. The art of doing nothing. Like a cold drink and a cool summer breeze sitting on the front porch as the dogs root and snuffle and roll in the grass. But what I really wanted was to develop the art of doing SOMETHING. The ability to think of something fun to do and then just go out and do it before the whatifs get in the way. And likewise, knowing where to look for inspiration when the “something fun” isn’t jumping right to mind. Perhaps most importantly (and most challenging for me), the bravery necessary to go out and do it solo.

So far, I have been surfing at Crescent Beach, kayaking at Lake Wauberg, and rollerblading the Gainesville-Hawthorne Rail Trail. And of course riding my horse, which doesn’t exactly classify as an adventurous undertaking, but nonetheless counts as DOING SOMETHING.   

Is there any such thing, really? It occurred to me that I should start using this nifty blog which Bryan set up for me long long ago. I had no free time then and I never posted. Plus, I thought, what on earth could I possibly write about that would be interesting? I pretty much have my routine down – school, barn, home. School, I have learned, is only interesting to other vet students. Non-vet school people are usually bored out of their skulls when out with us, as school consumes our lives and the little bits of juicy gossip through which we live vicariously are all involving – who else? Other vet school people!

Ditto the barn thing. Horse girls like to talk to other horse girls about horses. Nobody except the aforementioned horse girls wants to hear about it. Once I was out with a fellow horse girl/classmate and her husband. He served us with a double-whammy by initiating a “no-vet-school-or-horse-talk” rule. After exchanging pleasantries and getting the update on his life, Wendy and I sat there in utter silence exchanging helpless looks until we finally broke down and began talking about horses AND school simultaneously. Fortunately her husband is easily pacified with ice cream and we were eating dinner right next to Cold Stone.   

So I never have much to talk about. As you can see. Unless you are a fellow vet student or horse girl. But this summer I have experienced several revelations, all of which have combined to bring me to my current state. Essentially I found myself possessed of some free time, an event which has not occured since I began vet school in August of 2003. Knowing now what a gift that is, I was determined not to waste it. In doing so I finally feel that I have some things to say.