Almost Died

I woke up this morning (OKFINE, it was the afternoon) in my favorite bedroom, to this on the mountain outside:

... snow on the top.

Winter is coming.
(Obviously.
It's November.)

An hour after I got up, (and after I'd had a salad for breakfast lunch) (WHO AM I? Salads first thing?) Sandra and I went to Teapot Hill (actually, it is a mountain. I propose it be renamed) to hide our first two teapots.

(A couple weeks ago we spotted hidden teapots on our hike. We decided to add to the collection so that someday our yet-to-be-conceived grandchildren can go for a hike with us and try to spot their granny's teapots.)

Always thinking ahead.

Anyway, Sandra had picked up two teapots last week for a buck, so today was the day we were going to hide them. Plus, we challenged ourselves to make it to the top in less than 50 minutes.

We started strong. Like, really strong. We climbed straight up for a full 10 minutes, at an inhuman speed. We were like machines. And then when I saw a stump at the side of the path, I proposed we stop and take some selfies: (I put the camera on the stump and then ran across to get in the pic.)


Us and our teapots:

(OK, can I just say that I am not 8 inches taller than her? We're standing on a steep path, and I'm on the incline. I look positively Amazonian.)

So.
Mere minutes after this photo was taken, I started feeling weird. We were racing to the top and my head and legs started to scream at me. I told Sandra to wait a sec, I needed to catch my breath. I took a couple gulps of water, breathed deeply and waited to feel normal.

It wasn't happening.
My head felt lighter and lighter and my legs were struggling to keep me upright.
I walked over to a tree and leaned back against it, longing to lie down in the wet leaves and sleep.

Sandra kept talking a blue streak saying many words over and over again. Her voice was fading away and my head felt like it was filling with ice water. I knew I was going to fall over if I didn't sit down, so I walked over to a soakin' wet log, parked my butt on it and kept breathing. It was taking all my concentration to stay in the sitting position. Everything in me wanted to be gloriously horizontal.

Sandra pulled out her phone and starts googling my symptoms.
She asks alot of questions while looking for a website that is applicable to our situation. (OK, my situation.)

"Has this ever happened before?" she asks.
"Yeah.
Three times.

This feels like when I was in the O.R. (operating room) having my kids. (C-sections) I was always on the verge of passing out/fainting when they laid my flat on my back. My blood pressure would drop drastically because no blood was making it to my head so they'd roll me over onto my side til they could sort me out..."

A few minutes pass.

"Uh, I don't think I'm going to be able to do this. Somethings just not right. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep hiking."

It took many minutes for the blood to make it to my head. Physically,slowly, I could feel it return. It was a lovely feeling.

We waited a few more minutes, then I decided to carry on. We climbed slowly. Painfully slowly. We made it to the top, but not before making two significant stops to hide our pots:

She is climbing up a very steep incline on all fours to get to her hiding spot.
You might be wondering where her teapot is.
Why, tucked into her bra of course.

Close up of hiding place.

Can you spot it in the photo below?

My turn:

Sandra grabbed my camera while I trudged through the forest:

And teapot #2 is hidden too.

We spotted a few more hidden teapots at the top:

Down on that stump? A full tea set.

Anyway, we are inspired to bring up tea pots again, next time. Smaller ones. That we can hang off branches.

We sauntered back to the parking lot, and noted that we did it! Record time! OVER TWO HOURS. Pretty sure no one has taken that long to do Teapot. YAY us.


Three Things I'm Thankful For:

1. I didn't die on the trail today. Or even pass out. So glad I decided to brave it out and carry on climbing. So glad it was just Sandra with me. (Thanks to today's little episode, we have achieved another level of intimacy. Foreshadowing of the future? When we will all see each other get old and physically compromised?)

2. Supper tonight with Rick n Sandra, John n Val. Conversation meandered all over the place and then back again. Love evenings like this.

3. So thankful for this place.

Shalom,
xo