Tuesday, July 05, 2005

My new stick

This is the way it works in our household. Kirk works hard and makes all the money, and I get to spend it! Mainly that's because I do all the grocery/household shopping, but also because I always like to buy myself treats when we're traveling. Thankfully, Kirk doesn't seem to mind, probably because I cook him dinner and do his laundry and also because (as he put it) "I don't have expensive taste" (unless I'm shopping with Lee, that is...).

My latest purchase (bought in Wengen) is a Swiss walking stick. Back in the day, we would use any old stick we found in the woods as a walking stick. But the Swiss take their walking sticks very seriously. There's a whole industry of walking sticks with various makes and models, and from what I can tell Leki has a monopoly on the product.

I tend to make fun of the "nordic walkers" who use the 2 poles to assist in their exercise routine around Basel (it's kind of like speed walking plus poles). But those who use them in the mountains are much cooler. After my solo hike through the rocky slopes above Beatenberg on Friday morning (Kirk was working), I decided I needed a walking stick. That morning I had too many close calls where I almost slipped on the steep declines and wet rocks. I had visions of me falling and being stranded on the hillside with nobody finding me because the rain was starting up again and there were clearly no other hikers foolish enough as I was to go out for a walk on a day like that.

Here I am with my brand new Leki walking stick getting ready to try it out for the first time (at Männlichen just above Wengen). At the suggestion of the man at the sports store I bought just one since I'm not planning to use them for nordic walking, etc.