I need to become better at editing myself.  That last post was way too long.  I think part of it is my need to sit on content on for a day before I can edit in cold blood.  I’m going to work on it, and we’ll see if I’m able to improve in the next few posts.

Just one more step in my continued journey toward self-improvement.

Last weekend I went up to NH with my husband and his best friend, whom I will call Uncle Ken. When going to NH, it is obligatory that one goes on a hike or nature walk of some kind, regardless of the season, so we went to Crawford Notch State Park.

I didn’t really feel like hiking, so I figured that we’d just walk far enough to see the Dry River, then turn around a come back. After all, I’m 4 months pregnant and my balance is a little off. I didn’t want to do any real trail hiking and risk having to be carried out of there after tripping over my own feet.

About a half a mile in, we saw this sign:

Now if you’re like me (and I think we’ve established that I know I am) when you see a sign like this, your first thought is, “I’ve got to go cross that bridge!” So we looked at the map and figured that the first river crossing was another two miles away. We weren’t sure that the first crossing would have the bridge, but I wanted to take the chance. The boys humored me, and we were off.

Thankfully, Uncle Ken had brought hiking poles and I was able to use them to keep my balance on the slippery and steep parts of the trail. No pictures of those parts, but we did get this picture of the not-so-dry Dry River.

When we got to the bridge, we saw another ATTENTION sign, but this one was slightly different.

Not sure if you can read the fine print, but this sign says that a person entering the bridge can be fined up to $5000 and spend up to 6 months in prison. What? $5000 for using a dangerous bridge? That’s something that never happens to Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, and those bridges were a lot more dangerous looking! Then again, this bridge goes out while you are on it and if you’re lucky you get life-flighted to the nearest real hospital. If you’re not, you end up in the news as a tragic story a few days later. I guess that merits a $5000 fine.

Now, ten years ago, a sign like that would only have encouraged me to cross the bridge. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this picture taken outside the Mt. Timpanogos Cave in UT.

Can’t read the sign in that picture? Let me type if for you. “RUNNING ENDANGERS LIVES.” What am I doing? The obvious. Running. Now before you go thinking the sign is crazy or that I am crazy, at the edge of the asphalt, there is a shear drop of probably 200 or more feet, and I have probably 20 yards of running space. There is also no one else around except for the friend who took the picture. And a nice shot it is, too. Both of my feet are in the air, making me appear to defy gravity in the instant it was taken. This friend should be a photo journalist.

Back to the topic of this post. I must be growing up, because when I saw the sign with the $5000 fine, I hesitated. Instead of crossing the bridge and having my husband take a picture of me in the middle of it, I settled for the picture below. Why? Was it the fear of being fined $5000 or spending 6 months in prison? Nah. I think it was because of the baby I carry. I have no problem exposing myself to calculated risks, but I just wasn’t willing to endanger this little life I have growing inside me. I have waited to long for a baby of my own.