Sundays in My City--Beware the Shortcut

 
 Two roads diverged in a [green] wood,
And sorry I could not travel both ['cause I was tired]
.......
[I] looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim ['cause it was shorter]

.....it was grassy and wanted wear......

.......I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

  Adapted from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. 

  
Today we visited one of my favorite places on earth. Ntumbacushi Falls! We have a volunteer who has been working with us since November and we hadn't been to the falls with her yet. Also, this is Timothy's last chance to see the falls before he moves back to the States.

To get to our favorite swimming spot (shown above) is quite a hike. The initial part of the trail is quite steep and, at this time of year, slippery. The last time we were at the falls I learned about a shortcut that takes you straight through the woods rather than following the falls in a more meandering route. 
By the time I got to the top of the steep part of the hike my kids had already moved on down the trail. I decided to take the shortcut and beat them to the top. This trail was way wetter than it had been in August and by the time I reached the part where the two trails met up again, my shoes were soaked. But! I had beaten my kids to the top and I was so happy.

 I waited and waited for my kids to come around the bend. When they didn't appear, it hit me that they didn't actually realize that I had taken the shortcut and therefore might be a bit concerned when I didn't show up anywhere on the trail behind them. Sighing, I headed back down the trail--the long one this time--and sure enough found my kids waiting for me. They had even sent Troy back down the path to search for me. Oooops! So much for my cutting time off the walk. I'd now had to travel nearly the whole path twice.

But, wasn't that sweet of them to look after their aged and decrepit mother??

So what lesson can I learn from this? First, I have really great kids. And second, I shouldn't take a path less traveled--at least not without telling someone first--and that will make all the difference.

I'm linking up with two lovely ladies today: