I took the first walk of the year just
now! It was glorious!
Glad to have the day off, I woke up an
hour earlier than normal because I had an early morning breakfast
date. I wanted to make sure I had time for a cup of coffee with my
Best Friend before I had breakfast with my good friend!
Both were wonderful. When I met my buddy at the restaurant, she
apologized for her casual garb, saying that she was going to go for a
walk after her meeting with me. And suddenly I thought, “That's
what I'll do! I'll go for a walk today!”
It's been a long, COLD, winter. The
snows have been many, although thankfully small, and there was only
one ice storm to contend with. But the days in which the high
temperatures were in the double digits below zero were simply
too much for most of us, myself included. Today's sunshine and warmer
weather just beckoned us to take some steps outside!
Still a little chilly at 46 degrees
with a good breeze, the sunshine called me forth. I set out eagerly,
phone in hand, as much to take pictures as to keep track of the
length of my walk for calorie counting purposes. I spotted a couple
of beautiful trees; how nice that the conifers have a little bit of
time to steal the show while the hardwoods wait on their leaves!
I laughed when I spotted two horses on
neighboring pastures, having a chat over the barbed wire fence
between them, reminding me forcibly of my friend and I gabbing over
the breakfast table! Similarly, the horses seemed to be rejoicing in
their freedom from their barns and catching up after so much time
apart. I missed seeing them this winter; I'd even wondered if the one
homeowner still had a horse tucked away in his barn, so little
activity did I see on his land over the winter. It was good to see
them out and about once more.
On the return leg I noticed that a lot
of trash had accumulated in front of our side lot, buried repeatedly
in returning snows but now uncovered and visible. Adding purpose to
my hikes, I pick up a piece on each trip. I noted with satisfaction
that it looks like I'll be busy for some time.
Off to a good start; I'm ready to
welcome Spring!
"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come..."
(Song of Songs 2:11-12 NIV)
