my daily walks have evolved over the years. but they have remained constant. i've always walked. sometimes because i had to, but mostly because i wanted to. it keeps me healthy. it gets me outside. it has been a way to connect with my kids, my husband. it gives me time to think. it takes me to a calm place that can only be achieved through putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over again.
our little corgi, Dexter, loves his walks too. he used to pull me along..."hurry, hurry, hurry", he seemed to be saying all the time. but he is getting old and lately it seems to be me saying "hurry, hurry". he can only make it about a mile most days and some days, after just half a mile he gives me a look. a look that says, "will you carry me?" and that melts my heart. he's just so darned cute. so, i decided to stop trying to hurry him. i take a nice brisk walk first and then i come back for him. this morning i really surrendered to it. i took his pace. i think it's called meandering. i let him stop and smell the flowers. literally. and every blade of grass. and every inch of pavement. and i didn't pull him along. instead, i noticed things.
an intricate spiderweb, dewy and silvery in the sunlight, the beautiful morning sunlight which was streaming just so through the trees.
a light cool breeze, a breeze that sent the first of the fall leaves fluttering to the ground soundlessly and in slow motion...almost like snowflakes.
a brilliant red cardinal chasing a large locust, his breakfast trying desperately to escape.
the quiet. oh my, it was so quiet. a few birds, an occasional distant bark from some dog who probably wished he could come with us to smell the flowers.
it was just a really beautiful and peaceful morning. i didn't have my camera with me to capture any of this, so you're going to have to take my word for it. anyway, i think i would have missed all of it if i was focused on trying to capture the perfect image.
it's so easy to fall into that manic, always thinking of the next thing, rushing around in a hurry way of being. i feel like my little dog taught me something. it's ok to sniff the flowers. and pee on them. ok, maybe not that. but it's ok to slow down once in a while. or more than once in a while. when we got home, i was still in "meandering" mode, so dexter and i went out to the backyard for a little while.
we explored the beginnings of a "rock garden" that my husband is making because he thought i would like it. and since beginnings don't look like much, try to envision a peaceful, zen, green ivy and rocks, maybe a bench, kind of garden.
we checked out the progress of the filling "the hole to china" project, which has been going on for several years now. when they kids were younger i let them try to dig a hole to china. well, there were four of them and at times, friends, so they made it pretty far. it's taken years to get it this filled in. we should have it done just in time for the grandkids. ha ha!
we explored a fallen tree. it just fell right over unexpectedly with a giant crash one day. we were all inside, each of us thinking at the time, "what was that noise?" and then we just went back to what we each were doing. later when we saw it we each said, "yeah, i thought i heard something". I peeked in the end, the inside has been hollowed out by termites. glad that one was away from the house.
we found a pretty patch of moss and sunlight. i looked around for fairies, but i didn't see any.
and on the way in, i got goofy and snapped a picture of myself, snapping a picture of myself.
meandering...
yeah, it's a good thing...
