In life we plan a lot of things. We plan out weddings months or years in advanced, we plan when we will hang out with friends, and we even plan how much money we will allow ourselves to spend throughout the month. What happened to not planning? When you would show up unannounced and were welcomed with open arms. What happened to always being prepared for something great to happen, and I do not mean in the next episode you planned to watch on your DVR. Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you lived simple like Thoreau? I am not saying we all need to sell our stuff and live in a state park secluded from the world, but what happened to being secluded for a few hours? What happened to your desire to get lost? As a child I lived in South Florida around hundreds of acers of orange groves, creeks, and to a 7-year-old with a wild imagination it was my jungle to explore every inch. I remember sometimes I would come home from school and just run to my backyard, lay by the creek, and look at the tree tops. How they would shiver to the whistle of the wind. I never planned sitting outside for hours, I did not plan splashing mud around in a dirty creek with my neighbors, and I never planned all of the 4-wheeler rides through orange groves with my dog running next to me. It is the unplanned that is the most magical.

This weekend me and a few of my friends decided to go out on the lake. One had a paddle board, I had my kayak, and the other three had a canoe. We made it to this little spot on the side of Lake Altoona in Georgia and make a fire, set up some enos, and just waited for the sunset. Going out there was planned, but getting caught in the middle of a serve thunderstorm was not planned. But as we waited we did not complain, we enjoyed each other’s company. We talked about life, our families, made stupid jokes about things. As the storm got stronger I was amazed at how beautiful the lightning was. How it danced across the greyish amber sky. How something so deadly and so powerful could make such a miraculous show in the dusk sky. Yet the trip was not over. The storm clouds rolled away and we decided to head back to where we put in. It was a dark and eerie picture of the black clouds against silhouette of trees. Although our crew never has a dual moment. By this point I jumped in the canoe and someone else took the kayak. We had finally made it half way back and were dancing, singing, and not really paying attention to our surroundings. Imagine two teenage girls screaming at the top of their lungs and falling to the side of the canoe as you attempt to steer away from the branch sticking out of the water. The canoe turned on its side a little and began taking on water. “GRAB A BOTTLE, GET THE WATER OUT, WE ARE GOING TO SINK” is all we heard for five minutes as we panicked, realizing we should have been looking out for objects in the way. And yet, we did not sink. I do not know how we made it back, but eventually we did. Of course that was after everyone thought it would be funny to scream that someone was coming in the water after us. Possibly the most scared I have ever been, but it is fine. Through the great and the trying moments of that adventure all things add up to you cannot plan to have a good time. Sometimes not everything goes according to plan, but that does not mean you will not enjoy it. sometimes your friends will get on your nerves, but no matter what they will have your back. I would not trade these memories or these friends for anything.