Summer fun

I love this time of year. It's the sunshine and blue skies and that feeling that anything is possible. Also it's the snow being gone. :)

But it makes sitting at my desk writing a whole lot tougher.

That's one reason I bought myself a Trikke. Not to be confused with a three-wheeled bike.

I told myself I needed the exercise (which I do.) But let's face it, most of us have something around that we bought for exercise that now collects nothing but dust.

That's why I didn't tell my husband about my purchase until the big box was dropped off by the UPS man. Surprise!

My husband is a good sport. He hardly grumbled as he put my Trikke together. He hardly said, "What in the world were you thinking?" Hardly.

I'd seen these on TV and they looked fun -- and such good exercise. I knew then I had to have one. According to the directions, it takes most people about an hour to learn to ride a Trikke. There are no pedals. There are handlebars with brakes (like I'll ever need those) and a place to put each foot.

The idea is to tilt the device and push with the outer foot at the same time. Right.

The first time I tried it out in the street in front of our house, my husband made me wear a helmet and gloves. The gloves, he said, were where I wouldn't scrape up my hands when I broke my neck.

I stood on the Trikke. Rocked it. Nothing happened. I pushed it, jumped on, went a few feet and stopped.

But I wasn't about to give up. So that night after my husband went to bed, I moved the furniture in the living room, reread the directions and practiced. Every once in a while I would feel it. The directions called it feeling the "sweet spot." Uh huh.

After running into the fireplace a few times, I thought I might be getting it. My husband caught me though and predicted I was just going to fall through the television set.

The next time I took it out, I got it moving. Amazing. My husband quit shaking his head. Well, quit shaking it quite so much.

I'm often asked by aspiring writers what my secret is. I'm writing my 47th book, the 12th in the Whitehorse, Montana series.) There is no secret. I'm just stubborn. I never give up. Just like on the Trikke, I can't resist a challenge. I just keep trying even when things aren't going quite like I'd hoped. :)

Yesterday I went around the block on the Trikke. Who knows what is next. There are just a world of possibilities. While I'll never do some of the tricks I've seen people doing on these darned things (http://www.trikke.com/) I am out and moving and at a pretty good clip. And my husband thought this was a dumb idea. Ha. :)

Ever had something you just refused to give up on? Something crazy you realized you probably shouldn't have tried?