The Great Outdoors

Last week I was at a potluck with people from my work. I made a fairly disturbing realization about myself...I am not outdoorsy. Ok, I knew I wasn't that outdoorsy but the realization was that it's ok not to be so.

I have never been a hardcore biker, hiker or runner. Put me in a yoga class or Irish and I'm a happy camper. I blame it on years of allergies.

Where I live is pretty much a recreation heaven. No matter where you are in the valley you are 5 minutes away from mountains, streams and some excellent trail systems. It really is one of the big draws for people to move here to be so close to all of the recreation. In 5 minutes I could be cross country skiing or snowshoeing.

I don't want to be misunderstood, it's not that I don't love and think the outdoors are incredibly beautiful, I just don't really want to spend every waking moment out in it. For a while there I started to think it was something wrong with me. So many people that I associate with spend as much of their time as possible doing recreation, some have even made the outdoors their life's work (I do work in the Natural Resources Department). But I could never bring myself to want to do that.

And that's ok. Perhaps I'll try to blend in some so that people aren't too shocked. Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I confess that I'd rather be shopping or making jewelry or programming a website. But then again, we need all kinds, right?

I do have to confess that I am wishing for my chacos. I can't wait for summer so that I can pull them out. Until then, I guess I'll have to enjoy the random January sunshine in my snowboots.