Holdin' Hands and Kickin' Rocks...

...we've been doing this for many years. It's that walking, strolling thing that couples do. It isn't about fitness, not physical fitness anyway. It's about being close and staying in touch. It's not about the destination but about enjoying the journey. It started as our relationship began, walking around the neighborhood where I lived. We branched out to the only mall we had at the time, Highland Mall. We had little money for dates so window shopping and dreaming could easily fill entire Saturdays. We walked through Bastrop State Park, Zilker Park and the Town Lake hike and bike trails. Even our honeymoon included lots of holdin' hands and kickin' rocks because our little car broke down on the way to exotic Corpus Christi and spent the entire trip in the shop. Not only could we venture out only as far as we could walk, we then had no money to spend so walking just made sense. We spent hours on the sea wall, taking in the sights, sounds and scents of the ocean. We have been back several times since and reliving that particular walk is always on my list of must do activities. Once we were married we walked through the neighborhoods surrounding our apartment community and all over the UT campus on workdays. We continued our strolls after we moved into our little house. We enjoyed watching all the other little houses grow from the ground as if by magic. We were even known to walk away long evenings waiting for the arrival of a baby. We walked through one entire night of labor, wearing tracks in the carpet on the Women's floor at South Austin Medical Center. We thought that little one would never arrive! She did. We also comforted colicky babies, taking turns walking and bouncing that little bundle, up and down the sidewalk in front of our home. As life got busier, our walks took place with  less and less frequency. We would sometimes tell the other "I miss holdin' hands and kickin' rocks." Other times, we took a walk out of sheer necessity! Life had a way of crowding out those little pleasures. When we walked we always held hands, that way neither was left behind. We usually talked, too. Sometimes about nothing, other times about huge things, hopes, dreams, disappointments and worries. Often we walked quietly at first, decompressing from the events of the day. Other times we prattled on about everything that had happened that day. We discovered it was very hard to stay angry while holding hands and walking side by side. I think if we should ever find ourselves providing marriage counseling again, we will require a daily dose of "holdin' hands and kickin' rocks." Some of the couples I know who quit on their marriages might not have if they had taken the time to hold hands and walk every day.

We've found these times again in this season of life and not just because we aren't amusing ourselves with technology but because we missed it and want these connect points to be an integral part of our second half. We have really come to enjoy our after dinner strolls and miss them if weather or some other obstacle gets in the way. There are new homes going up...like in the beginning. We love watching the moon and stars, hearing critters talking to one another and smelling the first vestiges of fall. We hold hands, always. We talk. Sometimes we talk about the kids and sometimes that leads us to pray about the kids. Sometimes we dream aloud, like before, of things we want to do in our future and of who we want to be. We reminisce, too. "Remember when we walked after the cancer diagnosis and needed to be reminded that life is more than sterile walls, needles and drugs?" or "Remember how we walked together until we had a plan for this or that problem?" This journey has been very worthwhile. I hope we are able to continue this holdin' hands and kickin' rocks until Jesus takes us home.