Extreme Walking

Back in my years of singleness I used to think about what it would be like to have a boyfriend to go on romantic walks with. I would dream about a beautiful stroll by the lake holding hands with a cute boy, or a midnight outing under the stars. When I met Gil I was excited to try out these romantic ideas. I soon discovered, however, that some (maybe all, few, most, ???) guys don't share my romantic ideas of walking. Gil saw no point to just walking for no reason. If there was going to be walking there needed to be something more--maybe a rock throwing contest or with a gun in your hands (i.e. hunting). Yet this winter we have gone on more walks than ever. I have discovered that Gil is an extreme walker. Like today when he suggested we take the dogs for a walk. While it did reach almost 40 degrees today (a major high as of late), it was dreary and gloomy with chances of rain. Plus there are still massive snow drifts on the sides of the road and the road that is not covered in slush is now covered in mud. Mind you we would be walking on a dirt road, not even graveled! I agreed because a muddy walk is better than no walk. We did alright, made it maybe a mile total squishing our boots in the sloppy mud or falling knee-deep into a drift that wasn't strong enough to hold our weight anymore. Another recent walk was the rabbit hunting excursion. This one was worse. We went a lot further and since the snow was much newer it wasn't hard as a rock yet and each and every step was a sink-to-our-knees. Plus it was much much colder that day! Gil has taken a few other walks this winter. Ones even he wishes he hadn't taken (and I'm certainly glad I didn't have to endure!). So while I wait for Gil to see the romance in a nice stroll at twilight on a beautiful summer day, I guess I will settle for extreme walking. Better than nothing?!?