Friday, October 18, 2024

A Trip To The Hill Country

This past weekend, we took a trip out to Garner State Park along the banks of the Frio River in the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio. We went here once before back in 2021, and the family liked it so much that they requested a return trip.

We did pretty much the same things as we did last time, though I did have my daughter who was off at college last time we went here with us this time, so it was all new to her. We camped in the same area.

We tubed down the river from the same spot.

The only real difference is that I am willing to actually let a picture of me in my swimsuit be seen by anyone. 

I've managed to get in decent shape and stay that way for more than a year. That's a first for me. I'm still nowhere close to being all the way there. I'm even thirty pounds heavier than I was back in May, and I'm trying to get back down to that level, but I'm doing okay, and I'm going to act like it for once. 

Not only did I get a couple of pictures of me in a swimsuit, I even went on the rope swings that my kids went on. I think the last time I went on a rope swing, it was still the twentieth century, which was about the last time I weighed what I do now. So, there might be a little correlation there.

I was sitting in my tube, and using my phone to record the kids swinging on the rope, and when they finally figured they were ready to move on, I suddenly thought, "Why the hell am I just watching? That rope swing is nothing dangerous. I may be almost fifty years old, but that doesn't mean a damn thing in this case. I can swing on that as easily as anyone else."

I paddled over to the shore, climbed off, grabbed the rope and took a shot.

It was nothing crazy, but it was fun, and I think I did a good job. I took another shot using the other rope. I didn't do quite as well with that one.

I should have tried to get my knees up and wrapped around the knot so I could hold on better. My arms weren't enough to counteract the centrifugal force trying to fling me off, so I just plummeted when it got too strong. That's not the point, though. The point is that I tried it at all. I tried it, and I was just fine. Life is better because of what I've been doing for the past few years. I'm healthier and stronger, and I won't quit improving. No matter how much I feel like life could be a lot easier if I just did all the same BS that the average American does. I'm not going to.

Sorry, I was just going to talk about going on a fun trip, and it turned into some rant about why I gotta keep doing my own thing and give the middle finger to the world that wants me to quit. I didn't mean to go there. I guess it was just on my mind.

Hope your day was fun, and you're having a happy life. Carry on.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just like Spiderman.

Big Anklevich said...

In that scene where Spider-man is screaming, "I'm back! I'm back!" and then suddenly can't shoot anymore webs, falls to the ground on top of a bunch of garbage cans in an alleyway, and stumbles up saying, "Oh, my back! Oh, my back!"

Rish Outfield said...

That water is frankly amazing.