When Aaron and I began "dating" (I put dating in quotations because
he was dating
me -- I was simply
hanging out with him) one interest we shared was a love for the outdoors; specifically, hiking.
On our very first hike together we journeyed to Oak Hill Fire Tower in the Concord area. It's an easy but long hike that leads to a fire tower/lookout area. The views are glorious and, on a clear day, you can see Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Kearsarge, Mt. Cardigan and some of the White Mountains up north including Mt. Washington.
When we reached the summit Aaron wanted to continue up to the top of the fire tower. Now, you have to understand, I'm not a fan of heights. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm deathly afraid of heights but, they do cause me some discomfort and anxiety-- mostly I get wobbly legs and I start to shake. Never the less, part of me didn't want to be a baby so, I scaled the tiny staircase that felt like it reached into the heavens... and boy was it worth it! The views were gorgeous.
At the top of the tower there is a platform where you can stand to get a panoramic view of the expansive mountain ranges. We weren't dating at this point in time, although Aaron was trying desperately to entice me to be his girlfriend so, with his Honda car key, he carved our names into a support beam on the tower. It read:
Aaron (heart) Jessi. I remember when he did this my first thought was,
"I hate graffiti" followed by "
isn't he assumptive!?" I wasn't pleased he marked the tower but, ours was among hundreds and hundreds of names so I rationalized it was "semi-okay" that he did this (and, deep down, I was a bit flattered.)
Hiking back to his car I picked up an acorn cap and, feeling the need to impress and out-do his graffiti, I put the acorn cap to my lips and let out a shrill whistle; always pleased with my ability to be a Tom-boy. Aaron was amused and asked me to teach him how to do it. I placed the acorn cap in his hands and he tried, unsuccessfully, several times.
We have hiked the Oak Hill Fire Tower twice since that first day, the most recent time being 4 days after we were married. Each time I fight the nausea as we revisit the view and our names carved illegally into a support beam. Little did I know, the day we took our very first hike, not only would this be our first hike as husband and wife but also, years later, Aaron and I would have together hiked many of the mountains you can see from the top of the tower (Cardigan, Monadnock, Kearsarge.) It's really funny how life happens.
The reason for the title of today's blog is three-fold. While planning our wedding I wanted to do something original with the tables; most people use just a plain old number. I, on the other hand, named each table by a hike we have taken together. The place card bore the name of the guests, their respective table (mountain), and they were written on a seed packet that could be directly planted to grow wildflowers. The cards were set on a table decorated with-- you guessed it, acorns.
Now this story comes full circle.
As many of you may or may not know, weeks ago, Aaron's car was totalled by a tree falling in our yard. We just bought him a "new to us" truck but, before the old Honda was towed away, we had to go through the process of cleaning out Aaron's personal belongings. As he unloaded the car and brought travel mugs and tuperware into the house (grrr) I watched him set something, carefully, onto the counter; an acorn cap. I had already begun doing the dishes that were sitting in his car when I went to sweep the acorn cap into the trash. The conversation that ensued when something like this:
A:
(excitedly) Nooo!
J:
(startled, confused, holding the cap out to him) You wanted to save this?
A: Yes! It's the acorn cap.
J: I know what it is.
A: No. It's
theee acorn cap.
J: (
staring blanking, confused) "Theee" acorn cap?
A: The one from our first date... at Oak Hill. Remember?
All this time he saved it. Unbelievable.
