





Well that didn’t go as planned! I thought we would spend the afternoon hiking up Maple Mountain from one of the trailheads we had recently discovered. As I parked at the trailhead (a circular drive at the end of a well do do neighbourhood) I wondered if this was the best place to leave my hippie looking bus unattended. And as I leashed both of the dogs and locked the bus door (something I rarely do) I wondered if my pockets were deep enough to keep my keys or if I would find myself having to scramble around looking for them at some point later in the day. I’m not sure why I was so worried today. I never worry about silly stuff like that but the theme continued as we set out on the muddy, slippery trail. I worried about Cooper pulling me over. And then later up the trail as I precariously hiked down over rocks and roots worried if Cooper was going to yank me down the hill. I couldn’t let him off leash as he often takes off on me. Normally the trail is soothing and I am instantly relaxed the minute I am in the trees but today was different. It wasn’t working for me and soon I turned around and retraced my steps. The dogs weren’t bad but I was jumpy. It felt good to get back to the bus and enjoy a hot chocolate. I started to relax. Looking out the windows at the beautiful day out there I decided not to give up on a hik and drove around to another trailhead on the same mountain. I ended up hiking up an old logging road by myself (left the dogs in the bus) and had an amazing experience. But that story is for another day. I'm still not sure what I was so uneasy about earlier. The people I have met here in Maple Bay have been kind and friendly and there was really no need for me to feel unsafe. I rarely lose car keys so again no need for worry, my Cooper worries are very real and legitmate but have never caused me to turn around before.

Lessons learned today:

1. Never give in to worry or fears.

2. Don't give up on the things you enjoy just because it's not working out at the moment.