WHEN OPPOSITES ATTRACT

It Can Be Fun-ny

It doesn’t take long in Life to realize there are a lot of opposites in this world: hot & cold, day & night, salt & pepper, happy & sad, cats & dogs -- husbands and wives. They say the greatest thing about opposites is it creates personal growth, real empathy and intellectual stimulation.

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know I love to walk at Stepping Stones Park, a 24 -acre haven of beauty right here in Upper Sandusky -- the last home of the Wyandot Indians in Ohio.

Every time I make the 1.8 mile loop beside the picturesque Sandusky River, I feel God with me. I’m so grateful that the natural, peaceful sounds of rustling leaves, honking geese, prancing deer, chirping birds, whistling wind and chattering squirrels silence the cacophony of today’s chaotic society. It’s such a great place to meditate.

Well, last week I invited my husband to go along. I thought he may enjoy the tranquility too. But it didn’t take long for me to realize these “partner walks” were going to be something very different. Ha!

On the fourth day of our new adventure, my hubby popped into the backroom announcing it was 1:00 – time to walk. He was holding the notepad he was going to use to keep track of the number of steps we’d take. I shouldn’t have been surprised. The scorecard he keeps when we play Scrabble looks like an Excel spreadsheet with columns for our names, points, number of turns, and times we won.

I grabbed my coat and my hat. He was waiting in the truck.

The minute I got to the park I jumped out exclaiming, “Oh my gosh, look at those cumulus clouds. The tree branches look like arms holding up a bunch of cotton balls.” My super-organized husband didn’t hear me; he was still in the driver’s seat noting the number of steps he already had on his Apple Watch.

Finally, he found me taking pictures near the river where I hoped to catch the spirit of a Wyandot Indian jumping across the stepping stones they used back in the 1800’s. “Jan, Come on. we’re staying on the sidewalk today. We’re not detouring off in all those goofy places you like to go.”

“Oh, yes, we are,” I giggled.

As we started down the trail, my husband noted the wind had approached us from the northwest the day before, but was behind us, blowing from the south that afternoon. My head was still in the clouds enjoying the soft touch of Nature on my face so I didn’t really pay that much attention to his announcement.

When I headed for one of my “goofy” cutoffs, My Protector warned, “Be careful. The grass will be slippery under that snow.”

But, “Honey, look. Aren’t those huge witch-like fingers on the riverbank intriguing?”

Back on the 6-ft asphalt walkway, My Guy announced, “Boy, they need to seal this. You know, roots cause a lot of these cracks.”

I was still laughing when we got to a bend along the river where a plump of geese were searching for aquatic plants.

I had loved watching the geese waddling on the ice and flapping their wings in the water the day before. I promised to be careful maneuvering around the tiny mounds of snow. I got about ten feet from the riverbank when my shoes got stuck in mud, and I felt myself falling. Ah, oh!

I must have looked like a wildebeest rolling around in the mud while my husband tried to rescue me. “What are you laughing about? I told you to stay on the sidewalk. Did you break your collar bone? You told Melissa you couldn’t go to Silver Sneakers today because your shoulder hurt. Now what? I’ve only got my hankie to clean you up.”

“I’m sorry, Honey. I find it kinda funny.”

I could see my husband was a bit upset so I was quiet on the way home until he looked at his watch and said, “That took us 48 minutes, Jan. We could have saved ten minutes if you had stayed on the sidewalk.”

I love this steady, reliable man. He is the rock that keeps me tethered to reality and supports me when I fall. Over our 57 year marriage we have grown together, learning to have more understanding and empathy for each other -- Accepting our “Oppositeness.” But it has taken time. He has given me the space to be me, and I try to do the same for him — while adding some excitement once in awhile. Ha!

I have to admit I still do get a little testy with him sometimes. I’m trying though. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor says anger dissipates in 90 seconds if you don’t keep reliving it over and over. We’ve definitely found that to be true.

I was giggling when we got home from the park. He helped me pry off my shoes and shimmy out of my mud-caked jeans.

I took my coat to the bathroom to wash it off, and he disappeared into the garage with my dirty jeans and Skechers. About a half hour later he came into the house with a huge grin on his face. He pulled my pants and shoes from behind his back and proclaimed, “Jan, I got these clean with Windex!”

Oh, Lord!

I better stay on the sidewalk for awhile.

It’ll Be Ok.

~~~

“ A relationship should be 50/50, I pick the movie, you get the snacks. I fall asleep, you watch it alone.” ~ Thomas Turner, Sandjest

QUESTION: WHO’S WHO IN YOUR LIFE?

Please, share today’s entry with an aging friend who may be struggling with a relationship. Sometimes all we need is a laugh to make us feel better. xoxo