WEEK TWENTY: LIFE’S A PARTY

Being happy just seems like a reasonable goal in life.  Yes, it seems a bit egocentric, but if you’re happy, it stands to reason that your happy frame of mind will rub off on others.  In recent months, I’ve been consciously trying to identify things that fall into my personal happiness bucket and I’ve observed that adventure is one of those things.  Adventure, for me, is pretty broadly defined – a new experience, ideally with loved ones to enrich that experience.

Last weekend, Peter and I met up with my sister’s beautiful family to enjoy two things that met that definition of adventure – a blue grass music festival in Yeehaw Junction, Florida, and an overnight at a dude ranch.  In the course of 48 hours, I learned about glamping and railcar cabins, bluegrass groupies, zip-lines and baby goats. I experienced the delicious wet saltiness of boiled peanuts while sidestepping cow patties and attended an honest-to-goodness rodeo (yes, this was my first rodeo), complete with bull-riding and barrel racing.  One niece mentored Peter on the art of getting the bartender’s attention in a crowded saloon and the other introduced me to Marcel the Shell (look it up).  And, through the magic of text messaging, my daughter taught me how to look fashionable wearing cowboy boots, although that was pretty much a bust.  I was exhausted…and genuinely happy.