Adventures in Walking

First, I have to give a little background. I haven't had many GI symptoms despite my Celiac diagnosis, but when I have symptoms, I tend to have symptoms. They come on quickly and can be a little problematic. Per my neurologist's recommendation, for the past several weeks I've been on an elimination diet. I've been slowly reintroducing foods, mostly without major problems, including a new food that I ate last night and this afternoon. 

Micah and I set out for a walk and took a route we don't normally take along the river a little ways from our house. We followed the walkway for a couple of miles, enjoying the change in scenery and our conversation. When we were at the farthest point from home, I suddenly felt the onslaught of symptoms. My stomach tensed, I began to sweat, and I knew that if I didn't get home quickly, there would be some very embarrassing fall-out (eww, no pun intended...). I tightened every muscle I ever learned about in Anatomy and Physiology, and we walked as quickly as we could. A few minutes later, I became convinced the path had grown since we set out. Where is the end?? I kept wondering to myself. I began scouting bushes, suddenly grateful we'd taken a route that was mostly uninhabited and a little secluded. 

We reached a cut-off from the path that led to a neighborhood. My options were to continue on in the secluded path a little longer (with all its lovely emergency-ready bushes), or cut back through the neighborhood and hope that the slightly shorter route didn't mean a more public humiliation. I rolled the dice mentally thinking it was a lose-lose, and we cut back through the neighborhood. At each intersection, Micah spelled out my options, "Do you want to take this road, or that one?" I answered in a voice that surely betrayed the tense muscles and complete concentration that were being required of me, "Which one is shortest?" He'd gesture, I'd nod, and we'd set out immediately in that direction. 

It was at one of these intersections, when the options were particularly evenly matched and still way, way too far from the comfort of my own home and toilet, that I happened to look down the road to my left. It was as though the clouds parted and a beam of light shone down. Maybe there was even an angel chorus, I can't remember. About half a block away, by what had recently been a construction site, stood the most beautiful thing I've ever seen: a port-a-potty. I ran to it (or at least, it was a little like a run. Some of the muscles in my anatomy books, it turns out, can't multi-task), looked sheepishly at the car that was passing at the time, and hurried inside. 

It seems there's never a dull walk for the two of us...

Photo credit: https://www.servicesanitation.com/tips/hacks/