Reimagining the possible

Reisenji Lake

Three years ago, when my son was still two, we would walk from our house to Reisenji Lake, which is 10 minutes on foot for me by myself, but would take 30 or 45 minutes with him in tow, including all the stops, to examine flowers, pick leaves, and munch on wild gooseberries. Some friends of ours owned a cafe next to the lake, so we could stop to have a snack after playing in the park before heading back home. It was a kind of perfect arrangement; for Jonah the walk was a challenge, and it ended with a bit of food incentive, in the understanding that as Mullers we both think with our stomachs first. However, last year a few things changed. The cafe closed and Jonah started cycling with training wheels, and so the same path up to the lake, him on his bicycle and me walking, was still a challenge, but less so for Jonah. From this year, the trip became even less challenging for him than it had been, with Jonah now five, and for me the lack of food at the end of the trail sent my stomach searching for an alternative route.

A few weeks ago I thought I had finally found it; there's a corn shop about 6km (3 and 3/4 miles) from our house, on a relatively calm road, with two parks between here and there. It appeared to have all the necessary components for an adventure run; a challenge for both of us, Jonah on the bicycle, me on foot, rest stops between here and there in the form of parks, and food at the end, in the form of sweet corn stalls and a soba restaurant.

And so, we set out on the first Sunday after the rainy season, when the sun was scorching and the humidity was through the roof from all the water on the ground - me on foot, Jonah on his bicycle. You can see the route here. Make sure to select show → elevation profile while you're there. It'll become important in a little bit.

Jonah on our adventure

With several stops along the way, including one for Jonah to take a picture of a grave site he was enamored of, and for me to take a picture of him, about 30 minutes of playing in a temple park, after about 2 1/2 hours we finally arrived at the corn stands, only to find that of the three, only one was open, and they weren't selling any corn. So we had blueberries instead.

After the blueberry snack we visited the soba restaurant for lunch, and I called Yuki, who came to meet us in the van - our family crash mobile - to give us a ride back.

This is where the story takes a turn. As Yuki is walking over to our table, Jonah looks at her, the van, puts two and two together, and as she enters earshot says, "I want to cycle home."

Blueberries!

I almost told Yuki she could walk with him and I would drive back, but I reminded myself that many times you learn from others what's possible and not possible, and I asked myself whether I wanted to tell Jonah that it wasn't possible for us to do the round trip without at least trying it. So after Yuki had her lunch and we had rested for a bit, she and I explained to Jonah that he didn't have to cycle back, but if he wanted to, we could try. However, if he got tired it would be OK to call for a rescue and it wouldn't be a problem.

He agreed and the two of us set off again. Remember the elevation profile? You lose about 80 meters (260 ft) going from our place to the corn stalls. On the way back we had to gain back that elevation, which meant more of me pushing Jonah, as his kids bicycle has only one gear. But in the end we did it, with the requisite stop at a park and several water breaks.

And what was the first thing Yuki said when her victorious men tromped through the door? "Good job. Now go take a shower."

All told it was a 6 1/2 hour day, leaving at 10:00 and returning at 4:30. We did the one way again on Monday, narrowing our time down to 2 hours. (Yuki gave us a ride back that time).

I think I have a winner in this new route.

Lunch!

Jonah eating