The Side Quest

A while back, my daughter observed that her work is an endless series of side quests. Any given day may start with a specific project or objective—call it a quest—but then complications and new facets lead to other activities. Some of the side quests just keep growing to become major adventures. She works at a camp, so it is no surprise that she encounters this often, but I think we all experience this to some degree.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to squeeze in a hike on a lovely fall afternoon. My quest was to get to the top of the south bluff, which stands over 500 ft above the valley floor. It should have been simple. But I decided not to take the trail, but rather to explore a part of the bluff that I don’t get to very often: the front face. Some of you might have seen the Instagram/Facebook posts about this, so feel free to skip to the bottom of this post if you just want to find out what’s going on at Iowisota! Anyhow, I was having great fun with my quest, kicking through the loose leaves and observing rocks, lingering green plants, and fallen trees. I heard a text come in and took out my phone to respond, then put my phone back in my pocket. A bit farther up the slope I realized my phone was no longer in my pocket. Not in any pocket. It was somewhere in the leaves between me and the lower slope. This was a problem I wasn’t going to solve on my own. I hung my orange vest on a branch to mark my location then went back to the house for help.  My son came back out with me and called me when we got near to where I thought the phone might be. This first quest was quite successful, and soon I heard the ring tone and had my phone back, tucked into a more secure pocket.

I returned to my quest of getting to the top of the bluff. I should have gone around the side of the bluff, away from the steep face, to climb up to the ridge. But I decided to take a bit of a side quest to explore the base of the rocky face above me. As I stood at the base of the cliff, it looked like I could take a shortcut and perhaps just scramble up along the side of the rock face, keeping my footing on the soil at the base of the cliff and hanging on to

the edge of the rock face on the one side. That went well for a while, but then it didn’t. The ribbon of soil got very steep, the footholds were slipping away, and the handholds on the rock face were not enough for me to pull myself up. I was stuck. I pulled out my phone and called my husband for help. I precariously hung onto the edge of the rock face, waiting for help. A cute little wren (probably a winter wren on its migration south, since our house wrens are long gone) flitted into the red elder shrub along the cliff. Daylight was fading. In the end, there was no way for Dennis to get to me from the top, and my only safe way down was to let go and slide down feet first on my belly until I got to a point with enough footing to scramble and scooch down the rest of the way.  I was filthy dirty and a bit sore, but I was safe. It wasn’t a successful side quest, but I felt so alive.

The next day, I completed the quest. I hiked to the top of the south bluff via the trail. It isn’t an easy hike, even on the trail, but it is certainly safer! And it truly was lovely up on top.

I was reminded of a few lessons on this adventure:

1. Sometimes we need a bit of help, and the sooner we recognize that, the better it works out.

2. Choose your side quests wisely; by not choosing a wise path, I put others in danger trying to rescue me.

3. Recognize when to stop and go back. If I’d kept going up, I would have risked serious injury.

4. Don’t stop stretching yourself and having adventures. Adventures make you feel alive.

The side quests can add so much to our lives: amazing experiences, humorous stories, and/or outright exhaustion! Choose your quests wisely, but also embrace the side quest.

New topic: What’s going on at Iowisota this Winter! I have put several Fireside Crafting opportunities on the schedule; you can bring your own project to work on and sit by the fireplace in the Gathering Room. It is such a pleasant place to sip a hot drink with friends on a cold winter day! There is no cost to come join us for these open afternoon sessions, but please sign up at Fireside Crafting | Iowisota so we know you’re coming. We also have a structured pottery workshop scheduled for 3 weekend afternoons in January (10^th, 11^th and 24^th). George Blair will be teaching hand-built pottery, and participants will be able to make up to 3 different vessels to take home at the end of the session. Cost for the three sessions, with materials and firings, is $200. You can register for the workshop at Pottery with George Blair - 3 sessions | Iowisota.

We have a couple of private family retreats scheduled to use our guest spaces over the holidays. If you’re interested in a private retreat this winter, feel free to enquire about available dates. Every season here at Iowisota offers opportunities to interact with nature, whether it is watching birds through the window as you snuggle by the fire or snowshoeing through the woods.  I promise that if I take you out on a hike, we’ll choose our quest wisely! Once we get to March, we should be scheduling demonstrations of maple syrup making. And after that comes Spring! But for now, we are going to embrace winter.