IDAHOFALLSMAGAZINE.COM 23
I hit bottom when I hit the couch. No fresh air, no frozen
rivers, no frosted sunshine. I lost all of that last winter when I
broke my right leg in three places coaching youth hockey. The
injury reduced me to couch and crutch with heavy doses of physical
rehabilitation for four months. I soured severely.
While stewing, I realized the thing about hitting bottom that
matters most is the clarity that comes with it. Hold still long
enough to slowly grow bone and you'll discover you have nothing
better to do than stare at yourself and your life.
On the plus side, I figured out how to use my outdoor gear
indoors. See page
28 for details.
On the down side,
there's muscle
loss and fat gain.
Mental scramble
happens too. You
don't go from run-
ning nearly 1,000
miles a year to zero
miles without some
serious head games. I learned to play those games on the couch.
I also learned about time. The kind of time that makes us whole
and shouldn't be taken for granted. Time set by the tick of fall
leaves and the tock of summer waves. Time that turns with the
wake-up call of bald eagles and the bedtime hush of empty trail.
Time in open spaces and quiet graces. And time to revive the ambi-
tion deep within so you can seek all of those times again in what-
ever condition your body provides when you rise from the bottom.
Here's to the healing power of wild places.
IF
Kris Millgate
Living Between Couch and Crutch
Rehab Reality
Lookout: The Editor Speaks by Kris Millgate
"I realized the thing
about hitting bottom
that matters most is
the clarity that comes
with it."
GUNNLAUGUR GUDLEIFSSON PHOTO
