A Walk In The Park

It was an absolutely gorgeous day for October in Minnesota yesterday.  Not a regular occurrence in October here and with winter approaching, it’s all the more precious.  I met some friends for lunch at Olive Garden and after all that pasta and those breadsticks, three of us decided we needed to walk some of that off before heading home.   So, we headed to a nearby park that we knew had some great walking trails.

When we got there and headed down the path we came to a sign with a map of all the trails.  We stopped and discussed which path we should take.  All three of us are in our 60’s, still relatively healthy and mobile, but certainly not in any strong position of athletic health, each of us dealing with, or recovering from our individual aches and pains of getting older and really just trying to get healthier and stronger.  After some discussion we decided on our route after the one woman who had been there before told us that they do have benches along the way if we need to rest.  Ok, I’m in.  I love to walk and I’m up for a good long walk, but I’m also very aware of my physical limitations and a brief rest might come in handy.

It was not a power walk by any stretch of the imagination, more like a casual meandering.  But, at least we were moving.  I did call out the first bench we saw and stated I needed a rest.  It was a beautiful place to stop in the woods and what the hell, it was still going to be long time before we completed the loop and got back to the parking lot, I could use a bit of a re-charge. I think we stopped one more time for a rest.  There were a few hills to go up and down on the way.  It was a bit more taxing than the walking I do in my neighborhood.

The thing about that walk, though, was the healing that came with it.  As we walked though the woods, casually talking, noting the leaves that were turning and I inhaled the scent of the woods, it brought me instantly back to when I was a child and my brothers and I would walk a shortcut through the woods to our uncle’s house, a half hour’s walk by road.  I realized then, and told my friends, that walking through the woods in the fall was really my favorite time and place to be walking.  I found peace there and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent walking and talking with my friends.

Being dressed for October, but being so unseasonably warm, after awhile we had to pause so I could shed the undershirt I was wearing.  About three quarters of the way through the loop the path we were on led out of the woods and there was a long bridge over the grassland (supposed to be wetlands, but not too much water around here lately) in the sun, no shade.  Let me tell you, that was one long-ass walk across that bridge.  We didn’t sit on the bench half-way through to rest because it was in the sun and too hot.  We all agreed that if we stopped to rest, odds were that we may not move on for a long time.  We were all feeling the effects of the walk by that time.  We persevered and eventually made it back to our vehicles.  That big blue truck looked pretty damn good by that point.  It had been well over an hour since I had seen that beauty and we were all ready to quit walking.

So there’s not a whole lot of great revelations or lessons here, just a few things to note.

• In the middle of the chaos of my life, and in particular, the chaos of my mind, I found some moments of peace in the woods, cherished them and I am very grateful for those moments.  I was in a much better frame of mind the rest of the day as I sorted through the chaos in my head.  Sometimes that’s all it takes for me to sort through it and move forward.

• I thoroughly enjoyed the  comfort of just being me sharing the time with my friends and am very grateful for those times as well.

• I also found a great sense of satisfaction of having actually accomplished that long of a walk.  It’s really empowering.  I might even try it again.

Literally, it’s just one step at a time.

Love and Peace,

Chick