Books are for the birds

“Who wants to go on an adventure with me?” Andrew asked with enthusiasm to the three of us curled up on the bed reading books. “I do! I do!” The girls jumped up and down with excitement. They were easily convinced. I (Faith) wasn’t. “Oh, but its so nice just laying here and doing nothing.” “Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!” Andrew is always the one to initiate adventures, but I take some persuading. “Ookaaaay,” I said begrudgingly. All of us rushed around getting the necessary supplies- machete, GPS, water, toilet paper, and of course the hiking snack, which is the main reason the girls get so excited about dad’s “adventures”. “Today we are going to go find the top of a waterfall,” Andrew announced. “It is 2km that way.” I followed his finger across the yard, and couldn’t help but notice “that way” was down a big valley and up an even bigger mountain. “2km as the crow flies or 2 km by foot?” I asked hesitantly. “As the crow flies,” he said as he began marching down a trail. And with that, we were off. It was a lovely day for a walk. We talked about this and that as we walked along the small footpath. Along the way, we passed by a small hut with a half-naked baby sitting on ground outside, a group of farmers coming back from plowing their fields, and a small woman pulling along a cow that was almost as thin as she was. It wasn’t long before our footpath became smaller and smaller until it ended at a cornfield. So eventually, we had to turn off into the jungle and maneuver our way through the thick foliage. We heard rushing water down the mountain, so we decided to go and see if that was possibly the river that fed into the waterfall. Andrew pulled out the machete and started bushwhacking away at the thorns and briars so we could reach the river. We both had to carry the girls, as it was too steep and slippery for them to make it safely down. We eventually found a way down to the bottom and saw the source of the sound. It was a river, and could quite possibly be the river we were looking for. The only way to tell was to walk the river to see if it reached the waterfall. There was no bank to the river, just a drop off from the side of the mountain, so the only way to follow the river was to travel IN it. Andrew put one child and his back and I put one on mine, and we plunged in. The travel was slow, as the river was cloudy and it was difficult to get a foothold on the rocks that covered the riverbed. I looked around me- vines, overgrown jungle, and trees on both sides of us, many times making a canopy above us; the sounds of rushing water in front of us and birds chirping all around us. I just stopped and smiled. I could be home, curled up in bed with a good book like any normal person on a Saturday morning, or… I could be up to my knees in cold muddy water with a child on my back, clinging on for dear life, through this Amazonian-like jungle trying to find a waterfall SOMEWHERE in the vicinity! Hmm… Well, I married Andrew Hoskins for a reason. Books are for the birds. I was going on an adventure!