Playing Hooky

August 21, 2026
Nassau Trails
6.45 miles
2h28m

Most days I do a good job being a responsible adult. I work hard, meet my deadlines, use my professional voice, and juggle tens of millions of dollars in contracts.

But when a Friday in August comes with a forecast of 75 degrees and clear blue skies, being a grown up gets a little more challenging. 

On this particular day, the wanderlust won out and I played hooky from work. I made last minute plans to ride with Hannah and tucked my work phone in the pocket of my breeches. 

Of course, the second we hopped in the truck to pull out of the farm driveway, my boss called me on Teams. Hannah sat quietly in the passenger seat while I took the call. 

"Hey, Dom, sorry to bug you on a Friday afternoon, but you know how sales is..."

Soon, we were on our way to the Nassau Trails. These are a surprisingly short drive from the barn, yet I've somehow never been. I was tickled to explore new local trails.

We parked at the baseball fields and were soon on our merry way.

As we headed out on trail, Hannah told me what she knows of their history. Apparently the land was bequeathed to the county/township (?) with the stipulation that bicycles weren't allowed. 

As these things often go, the land sat mostly forgotten for some period of time. From my Googling, it looks like the initial hiking trail was restored as part of an Eagle Scout project. 

Eventually, it was the mountain bikers who took it upon themselves to do the trail clearing and improvements. Needless to say, they then started to use the trails. This seemed only fair since they were the ones to do the work. It seems the stipulation was sort of conveniently forgotten. 

These days, it seems one half of the trails is specifically designated for bikes, while the other half prohibits them. Hannah warned me that she has occasionally run into an ornery biker who gets in a huff about the presence of horses. She kindly reminds them that horses were allowed on the trails before bikes were.

That said, we only ran into one mountain biker during our ride and he was super courteous. I think most people on both sides are happy to share the trail. 

Given the history with the mountain bikes, it made sense that there were many boardwalks and bridges built into the trails along the way. Some of these looked somewhat sketchy. 

In the midst of a flashback to my misadventure at Six Mile Run with Eryca a few winters ago, I dismounted for safety. Max, in his usual level-headed way, simply plodded across in my wake. Perhaps this horse will give me some of my confidence back.

Max checks to see if Merlin is coming.

Taking an afternoon off is apparently the best way to summon corporate obligations from the ether and it wasn't long before my work email started blowing up. This is unusual in general, but especially on a Friday afternoon. It's a good thing I was keeping an eye on it!

I glanced at my phone at 3:15pm only to realize that one of our clients had booked a last minute urgent meeting... for 3:20!! Crap! 

Putting on my best middle management voice, I joined the meeting and told our VP, "I'm not at my desk at the moment, but I'll make sure this gets done by EOB today."

Meanwhile, I'm strategically hitting the mute button to keep anyone from hearing the clip clop of hooves on pavement.

Of course, this was the moment Merlin chose to faceplant for no reason, and I gasped as Hannah was nearly unseated. 

Seconds later, it was my turn to speak, "...prorated license count... not renewable for this term..."

This was peak multitasking.

Eventually we had to start making our way back towards the trailer. Mike was dropping off his motorcycle at the shop and needed me to pick him up when they closed. Hannah informed me that we still had a whole section of trail to explore. Next time!

The ride back was uneventful and work mostly left me alone.

I decided to be brave and just ride across the boardwalks on the way back. Max was foot perfect and I wasn't even nervous. Good boy!

Pictured: the tame stretch of boardwalk that doesn't involve crossing a ravine.

We went out the way we came in, passing a nice man who was doing some trail clearing along the way. He mentioned he'd never seen horses on the trail before, and we agreed that there aren't many people doing serious trail riding in this area these days. It's pretty much just our friends group, which is sad.

In the end, I was able to drop Hannah, Max, and Merlin at the barn, go get Mike before the bike shop was deserted, and return home with my career intact. 

In all seriousness, I'm very lucky to have a boss who doesn't care how I spend my time as long as I meet my deadlines and nobody complains about me. I rarely ride on the clock, but it's nice to have the option to go for a jaunt on a beautiful day without burning through PTO. 

It's what I call work-life balance.