An Adventure in 15 minutes or Less

Being that I work deep within the bowels of corporate America in a maze of cubicles, which viewed from above would look like a waffle maker fit for Paul Bunyan, I crave the living natural world while chained to my desk. My two guppies, Walden and Mr. Miagi, help as they swim around their gold fish bowl around a plastic bonzai tree. (Someday I'll bring a picture. Last month we celebrated our 1 year anniversary together.) My plant, which thrives on their waste water, is also a minor balm for my ailment. The overwhelming grayness of everything else, though, and sheer raw boredom are a bit too much for these friends to combat though.

It's actually interesting to stand up and watch the disembodied heads floating betwixt the sea of cubicles. They are a real picture of just how disengaged we are from so much that matters and "the real." Don't worry, I'm trying to suppress the bitterness with joys large and small. A little bitterness is like a little arsenic in your water.

Anyhow, these last 2 days I've really enjoyed a nice walk during my afternoon break. It's been a bit chilly in the teens w/a breeze, but a comfy hat makes everything cozy. Yesterday I just completed a simple circumnavigation of the big box on dirty pavement through endless parking lot. I loved it, but todays hike was even better. It was windy with constant snow falling, but it was the kind of snow that falls all day but never accumulates anywhere except on your windshield. Once again, the hat is the key to comfort. All you naysayers of winter need to not worry about your hair so much and put on a hat. Perhaps that'll be a topic some other day.

Back to my adventure, I decided to bushwhack through the woods and up over the rise. The huge building I work at is actually on the edge of my city in the northwoods. Well a little bumbling through woods then brought me to a cross country ski trail, which I was shocked had actually been groomed for skate skiing. This has been a terrible snow year, so this is impressive. The whole experience was so relaxing, and I was winded a bit too. I was even inspired to write my name in the snow for the first time this year, and with excellent penmanship! I bet I was the only white collar worker in the country to partake in this ritual today, and twas so unique because I work in a huge corporate setting with about 1000 other pawns (each with their very own 9 digit employee id). This whole time I didn't have a watch. I never carry one. Yet I managed to return to my desk with 31 seconds to spare!!! Yes, everything is watched pretty closely.