"Hey, you feel like going to the trail and riding our new bike?" I asked. A few weeks ago I picked up a tag along bike to attach to our mountain bike. She loves being able to ride together. "We can take a picnic!"

"Sure... I'll get the snacks," she said as she skipped into the kitchen.

In an hour we were on the Big Creek Trail, riding easily through the shaded water oaks and talking back and forth about the different varieties of trees, the squirrel we saw standing on the boardwalk with a mouthful of acorn pulp, and how much fun we were having, just the two of us. After three miles we parked our bikes in the shade and grabbed some cold water from our bike basket. We sat next to each other on the bench, enjoying each others company in the solitude of the great outdoors. I could have stayed there forever and I think she could have too.

After we pedaled back to the truck I thought about how wonderful our day together had been. As I was loading the bike up onto the tailgate I looked at Senia Mae and said, "You know today really was... " and before I had time to complete my sentence Senia Mae finished it for me.

"Awesome," she said.

"Yes, it was awesome," I said thinking about how we had just spent an entire day enjoying each others company, without T.V., without electronics, and without having to spend money. Any doubt or guilt I had about working part time had suddenly disappeared. She thought spending the day with me was awesome and I could think of no other way I would want to spend my valuable time.