What Kind of Frolics?

Having committed to enjoy (at least) Fifty Frolics this year, it’s lovely to imagine the possibilities: outings and daytrips and adventures of all sorts.

My top priority is to inform my closest friends about my plan...and to conscript them.

When I call Ellen, she’s on board immediately.

“I’ll be in San Diego for a conference in April,” she said. “We can get a good frolic in before or after.”

“Super!” Over the past decade, we’ve made a point of getting together for a frolic whenever Ellen’s work brings her to SoCal. This was a perfect first promised frolic.

“And I’m renting a house on a beach in Rhode Island in June,” she said. “Do you want to come visit for an East Coast frolic then?”

“Oh boy, do I!” One phone call, two planned frolics.

Another friend I surprises me. She’s a fun person with a quick wit and lover of life. When I phone her to tell her about my plan for 50 Frolics, my announcement is greeted with silence.

Crickets.

“Um. What’s up,” I ask. You don’t like the idea?”

“I don’t have any money right now,” she says.

I’m shocked and baffled by her response. Frolics don’t have to cost anything. We could go for a walk in the woods. We could explore some neighborhood close to where she lives. We could have a sleepover, with board games and whatever merry-making resources we find on hand.

“Well, um, I’ll think about it,” she says.

I take that as a no and dial someone else.

“Fantastic idea,” says Micky, immediately embracing the spirit of things. “You know what I’ve always wanted to do?”

“What?”

“Bikram yoga.”

Now Micky has never struck me as the kind of person who would voluntarily join a 100 degree room full of strangers for an hour of contorting her body in unusual ways -- but apparently I’ve been wrong.

“Bikram yoga it is. I’ve wanted to try it too, but never got around to it. There’s a place not too far from here. I’ll find out when their sessions are.”

This would be ideal: something new, something we’d both been meaning to try ‘someday’...and now we were allowing my 50th as an excuse to actually do it. We schedule a Birkam Yoga frolic for the Monday following my birthday.

I hang up the phone feeling good. I’m off to a great start with several specific frolics already planned -- including unexpected activities such as Bikram yoga and beach time in Rhode Island. I can’t wait to see the frolics that other friends instigate during the year

...and there are plenty of solo options available to me, as well. I could explore cool neighbourhoods in and around the city. Around the farm I can hike, go horseback riding and wine tasting. When I’m in Canada, you can be sure some cottage visits, canoeing and waterskiing will be in order.

It’s going to be a great, frolic-filled year.

What about you? What fun activities can you line up to make this the best year ever?