walking

Little Things – Day 742

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Precious Awakened – Photo: L. Weikel

Little Things

Each and every day, particularly right now, focusing upon the little things in life, the things that make us smile, is an act of self-love. Off the top of my head, listening to my cat Precious snore like a longshoreman while curled up on the back of the couch right behind me fits that bill.

And now that I start to contemplate the many ‘little’ things I’m grateful for, I see how many of them revolve around non-human creatures, especially Spartacus (our Boston Terrier), Precious, Tigger, and Cletus. I can say without qualification that they bring a dimension of joy and comfort into my life that I’d be lost without.

Tigger Snoozing – Photo: L. Weikel

You know me…recounting the joys my four-legged companions bring to my life is something I engage in routinely. And it’s not at all likely that I’ll stop dipping into the pool of love they provide anytime soon.

That’s at least partly because simply living life in 2020 and paying attention to our collective reality means we are bombarded with news that hurts our souls. Literally. Even if we only cursorily glance at the headlines just to see where we stand as a community or a country, it’s enough to drain our energy and leave us feeling defeated, deflated, or perhaps occasionally worse: enraged.

Our nervous systems are drenched in the fight or flight hormones of cortisol and adrenaline. And unlike pretty much all other times in our nation’s history, because of the ubiquitous nature of technology in our hands, we are kept mercilessly up-to-date on the latest atrocities being waged against the things many of us care about most.

Spartacus & Tigger getting some flame time – Photo: L. Weikel

Purring and Comfort and Walks

Beyond the scientific proof that the purring of cats is healing to the physical body, I for one can attest to how my cats have mended tears in my emotions since I got my first kitten at age six: Katen. Katen was a black and white domestic shorthair cat with a white hourglass on his nose. He got me through my childhood, pure and simple. He was my closest confidant (although I was lucky enough to have a couple two legged ones too – you know who you are).

It’s amusing to me to realize that he was black and white – just like my beloved Sheila and Spartacus; just like Cletus. Indeed, just like the marvelous Stinky who’s been around recently.

I love feeling the heft of a cat on top of the covers, his purr resonating through the layers of sheets and blankets. (I will admit to allowing Spartacus to nestle along my back underneath the covers. Talk about a comfort.)

And the walks. The walks are good for all of us. All of these little things, these opportunities for giving and receiving love, make my life incredibly rich. I hope you have such little things too.

Cletus with a rare smile – Photo: L. Weikel

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An Old Refrain – Day 737

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Waxing New Moon – Photo: L. Weikel

An Old Refrain

Whoosh, what a blast of chilliness blew into our area last night! While I haven’t seen or felt any yet myself, a coating of flurries was due to arrive sometime this evening. And in spite of an urge on both Karl’s and my part urging us to forego bundling up and venturing out, we pushed through. We did it, and it was the highlight of our evening. Hence, I’m launching into an old refrain: when you’re feeling glum or defeated or overwhelmed with the state of the world, take a walk.

Yes, the air was crisp. Tonight was the first time this season we had to bundle up and break out our neck gators. Aaaah – made of Turtle Fur, I must admit, I adore how soft and warm they are. They make all the difference when contemplating braving the elements. Keeping your neck warm is essential.

The Real Good Stuff

But enough of my late fall dressing tips. What was really important for us over the past two nights of walking was the gloriousness of the night sky. First, the sliver of a moon last night, which became noticeably larger and brighter crescent in the passage of just one evening.

As you can see, I managed a lovely shot of that tiniest of new moons last night – dangling enticingly in the burnt orange sky.

While tonight, although she was dramatically brighter and a noticeably more pronounced waxing crescent, I couldn’t for the life of me get a good shot of her. I did try; and I could share them with you. But nah. They didn’t do her justice.

Vast Beauty of the Night – Photo: L. Weikel

Starry Cloudy Night

So I turned my attention away from the setting moon and onto the clouds parting directly above, revealing a thick blanket of glitterati.

I’ll confess: Karl and I had both been in a bit of a foul mood as we cajoled each other into taking our evening constitutional. It’s helpful, as always, when Spartacus gets wind that we’re “going to take a walk-y.” His enthusiasm is sometimes the only thing that drags or guilts us into setting out – especially when it starts getting cold out.

But we did tonight. Thank goodness.

The spiraling crisis of the pandemic as it starts to devastate the Midwest and Southwest, as it starts to raise its ugly head again here on the East coast, is sobering. If we’re paying attention, we can see the irrefutable proof that gathering with anyone beyond our own household for Thanksgiving or the Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza holidays (not to mention New Years) could result in rampant community spread, hospitalization, and potential death.

We walked. We reveled in the recollection and appreciation of just how precious our lives are in this moment. Gazing upon the growing young moon and boundless stars has that effect on most of us. But it’s easy to forget. It’s easy to talk ourselves into staying home, hunkering down, and ducking for cover.

But I promise you. There’s still plenty of time to cuddle and cocoon upon your return. But there’s no substitute for a dip into the vastness of Mother Nature to remind us that life is fleeting. It’s healthy to expand our horizons and remember just how precious these moments are.

Starry Cloudy Night – Photo: L. Weikel

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Back in the Saddle – Day 702

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Clouds & my mood at the beginning of my walk  – Photo: L. Weikel

Back in the Saddle

I tend to think of myself as fairly steady overall emotionally. But sometimes I can feel overwhelmed and not have a clear idea of what’s at the source. That pretty accurately describes the trajectory of my day today. As the day wore on, I felt more and more sad, frustrated, and as if I was spinning my wheels in seemingly ineffective efforts to accomplish anything productive. That’s when I realized I needed to get back in the saddle.

I’m a list maker. I like to cross stuff off; it gives me a distinct sense of accomplishment to strike a line through something as simple as ‘mail a package.’ Well, today was not a good day for my list-crossing-out side. In my attempt to cross one such task off my list, I first encountered a line of five people (stacked into the lobby) at my own post office – which then shut down as I ran back to my car to repackage a box I was sending. Undaunted, I ran to a far larger post office about 20 minutes away, only to discover a line of customers 13 people long waiting to send packages.

I let that go until tomorrow.

Nevertheless, it was a lot of spinning of wheels. And that was only one of the items on my list today.

Clouds about half way around – Photo: L. Weikel

Take Five

Karl could see on my face that I was feeling more and more down as the day unfolded. But then I went on my merry postal chase and he knew my attitude was definitely not improving. From afar, he texted me that it might do me some good to do what I would tell him to do: take five minutes to sit with my journal and allow myself to decompress a little.

It was when I ‘took five’ that I realized we hadn’t taken a walk in a full week. Just realizing how much our walks keep me in balance was a revelation. Of course, on many levels I already knew just how critical our walks are to our overall health and harmony. Goodness knows, I’ve certainly written about it enough.

But here it was: in my face. My mood was dark and morose. I needed to walk.

And so we did. And didn’t the atmosphere shift before our eyes as we walked, with my own mood tracking it bit by bit? It was amazing to witness how getting back in the saddle of our physical routine so dramatically lifted my spirits.

And my journey was reflected in the sky.

Clouds nearing the end of our walk – Photo: L. Weikel

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Beauty – Day 595

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Anniversary Clouds – Photo: L. Weikel

Beauty

What a day we enjoyed today, mostly just hanging out with each other. Isn’t that the beauty of a relationship that’s celebrating 40 years of official togetherness? (We knew each other for three years before we tied the knot, so there are a few years of ‘unofficial’ togetherness, too…wink wink.)

But honestly, the best part about Karl and our relationship is how much I enjoy just being with him. Sitting on the porch, reading together, picking cards, laughing, snarking, watching the birds, cursing the squirrels, dreaming more dreams, wondering what’s next on our adventure agenda.

Anniversary Clouds 2 – Photo: L. Weikel

We really only did two things today: (1) We purchased a wonderfully deep and melodic wind chime, something of beauty to remind us of our milestone every day; and (2) took a walk. Of course. Because it’s the sacred little things we do that make all our lives both magical and worth the effort.

I share with you the blockbuster clouds that accompanied us on our journey today.

Love to all of you who sent us a happy thought or two today. We mirror them back to you with joy!

And hang on to your hats, everyone. I have a feeling this week is going to be…raucous.

Anniversary Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

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Lifted My Spirits – Day 562

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Sunlit Forest – Photo: L. Weikel

Lifted My Spirits

I’m so relieved that the weather today was as bright and warm as it was. I needed it. It lifted my spirits.

I can’t figure out why I was feeling so down today. The Memorial Day weekend was pleasant enough. I missed seeing our kids, but there have been other holidays, pre-Covid-19, when we weren’t able to get together. So it’s not as if it felt like the gaping hole in our summer opening extravaganza that I know other people experienced.

And we did manage to walk every day, despite initial calls for rain. Thank goodness!

Today was hard, though.

Ugly Out There

The best I can figure is that I’m starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the ugliness ‘out there.’

Last night, just before settling down to write about my love of Ents, I saw the video of the woman in Central Park, who earlier yesterday rabidly threatened to call 911 to report a man who was taking video of her breaking the leash law in an area devoted to birding. I’m sure most of you know all about her very obvious use of her white privilege to threaten this man for daring to video her flaunting the park rules.

It sickened me to see how she treated this man.

And then there’s the horrific story of the man in Minneapolis who was murdered by police officers, one of whom literally had his knee on the man’s neck as the man cried out that he couldn’t breathe. I could not bring myself to watch the video of that incident. Merely seeing the still shot of the cop with his knee on the man’s neck was enough to make me want to throw up. This type of stuff happens every day. Almost always with impunity, although apparently – hopefully – not this time. But it all makes me wonder how black and brown people do not despair of such cruelty. How do any of us not despair of this cruelty to one another?

So no, I’m not going to link to either of these videos. If you haven’t seen them, they are pretty much everywhere. Which may be why I was feeling more and more depressed today as the day wore on.

Between those two incidents and the videos of people spitting on or verbally abusing clerks who were trying to enforce mask use in their stores, or people deliberately defying public health recommendations… I don’t know. I just felt profoundly sad over the state of humanity.

Took a Walk

So Karl and I took another one of our walks. I’m sharing a couple photos I took. The beauty we encountered was heartening and peaceful. Once again, walking lifted my spirits. Once again, Mother Earth reminded me of the beauty that surrounds us if we take the time and make the effort to look for it.

As usual, walking brings me peace. Here’s a recent article reinforcing just how and why walking is so great for us – especially now.

I’m going to keep on walking. If you haven’t walked in a while, I urge you to go for it. It helps. And we all need all the help we can get right now.

Rhododendron – Photo: L. Weikel

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Hunkered Down – Day 524

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No social distancing – Photo: L. Weikel

Hunkered Down

By mid afternoon today, Karl and I had hunkered down. All five of our animals were in the same room with us, four of them observing absolutely no social distancing. The fifth, Precious, was to the surprise of no one, enjoying the ‘togetherness’ from the other side of the room.

It was cold outside. The weather app said it was 42 degrees – but felt like 38. That’s chilly. And the day was gray gray gray. It was a perfect day to curl up with a good book, cuddle with the beasts, and maybe – just maybe – take a quick nap.

After writing a bit in my journal, I sat up and declared, “I don’t want to take a walk today.”

“Ok,” Karl agreed, not needing to have his arm twisted. I sat back in my chair, relieved that he wasn’t going to guilt me today. Usually we act as the voice of conscience for each other, each taking up the mantel of Goader in Chief when the other is of a mind to skip a day of mindful meandering. But sometimes neither one of us can muster it up, so we take a day. All things in balance.

I resumed my writing. He resumed his reading.

Duty Called

All of a sudden, I realized sunlight was streaming in the window from over my shoulder. Glancing out that window, not only did the blanket of overcast appear to be breaking apart, but there were also some very obviously annoyed cardinals flitting about the lawn underneath the empty feeders. A blue jay clung to the equally empty peanut loop and glared in my general direction.

Reaching for the bag of peanuts so I could refresh the peanut loop, I realized just how hard I’ve been hitting these babies lately. Nevertheless, I forced myself to fill the loop and, while I was at it and the sun seemed to shine even brighter minute by minute, I filled all the feeders with their favorite black oil sunflower seeds.

By this time, I realize the sky was indeed clearing up. The decision not to walk today was a lame one. No, I didn’t feel like walking. It was definitely still brilliantly cold out. But the sun was shining and the day was gorgeous. How could I to say no to this chance to walk my talk?

Change of Plans

I walked inside and as easily as I’d declared the day to be a no-walk day, I rescinded my assessment. “We need to walk,” I stated matter-of-factly.

Karl sighed. “Alright. We’ll do a two,” he conceded. “But that’s it.”  He was being a great sport. He’d been snuggled under a blanket and Spartacus had been cuddling. That would be tough to leave under any circumstances.

But rally he did. And once we got on the road, the weather seemed to soften even more. With barely a reference to it, we took the long way.

It ended up being a four mile walk today in spite of ourselves. From hunkered down to taking the ‘long way.’ I guess you could say we ‘went with the flow’ and listened.

And the clouds responded by showing us some love.

Love clouds – Photo: L. Weikel

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Banging the Drum – Day 490

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High Rocks State Park (14 March 2020) – Photo: L. Weikel

Banging the Drum

If you’ve been reading this blog for any extended period of time, you’ve probably caught on to the fact that I love taking walks. I’ve written about how vitally important walking in nature is to my life, including the profound impact it’s had on my marriage. And now I’m banging the drum about walking even more as we all do our best to develop new coping strategies.

Gratitude

I’m feeling grateful for the weather this past week, as it was nice enough for us to walk every single day. This turned out to be exceedingly important to my mental health, as crises on the national and global stages, such as the spread of the Coronavirus, to personal issues looming large with clients and friends seemed to erupt every day.

The perspective and pleasure afforded by simply being in nature and physically moving forward reliably helped me sort out my thoughts and feelings about all sorts of matters – even things I didn’t realize were weighing on me.

Karl and I have remarked a number of times to each other already how lucky it is that this pandemic didn’t land on us in November. With the closing of all the schools and the admonition to engage in social distancing, it just seems like having to endure all of that while being cooped up in our homes would have been even far more difficult. (And believe me, I’m not thinking or saying any of this is going to be easy.)

What in the World?

So you can imagine my utter distress when I encountered this sign yesterday at High Rocks State Park. I’d also received notification via text message that Lake Nockamixon State Park was closing as well. You can check out exactly what this closure means here, and also see which parks are affected. You can also use it to keep an eye on whether they will extend the closures beyond the next two weeks or include other parks as the situation unfolds.

While I can understand closing the administration buildings and rest rooms at these parks, I am puzzled over why they are closing the parking lots. Reading the link above, it does sound as though the trails themselves remain accessible, so hopefully they’ll go easy on enforcing the parking.

It simply doesn’t make sense to me that we would be restricting residents’ ability to get outside in the fresh air and walk, hike, bike, explore nature, go birding, learn about plants, and maybe even brush up on some survival skills, especially when the schools across the state are all closed for at least two weeks!

It Does a Body Good

Here’s an interesting article I came across today. While it’s not technically about walking or being out in nature in a recreational capacity (which seems to me would be even more beneficial), it does discuss some fascinating research and conclusions from studying the 1918 Spanish flu.

And if you’re questioning why the entire country seems to be implementing more and more draconian measures to help stem the spread of this virus, such as closing restaurants, bars, schools, and pretty much everything except food stores and pharmacies, here’s an article that explains the reasoning.

All in all, it will be much better for all of us (but especially our hospitals, which may soon get walloped by unprecedented numbers of people showing up all at once) if we can stem the exponential growth now. Every single day we wait to implement these measures increases the risks for all of us. So I guess the best thing we can hope for is to look back on the very weird times we’re going to endure and say, “It didn’t get as bad as it could have.”

Because that will mean these drastic measures worked.

Stay calm, stay centered, find something to be grateful for every day, and if you can – get outside and listen to those peepers!

Daffodils in mid-March – Photo: L. Weikel

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Finding the Light – Day 484

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Sunset tree – Photo: L. Weikel

Finding the Light

Wow. What a way to start the week. If you pay attention to the news during the day, finding the light in any of what we were hearing was a tough task.

But the weather helped. The blue skies and bright sunshine were not insignificant, as I guarantee things would’ve felt exponentially worse had it been raining.

It looks like we’re in for a blanket of cloud cover tucking us in tomorrow, but at least without precipitation until a shower toward the end of the day. That’s a lot better than what I saw being forecast yesterday.

While I’m sure the skies being overcast will dampen our spirits somewhat, at least we’ll still be able to get outside for a little bit of one-to-one connection with Mother Nature without getting soaked.

Now More Than Ever

It seems to me that, now more than ever, we need to make a point to get outside and be in nature as much as possible. I’m not suggesting that vast swaths of anyone’s day be spent walking or hiking or riding a bike; it’s not even physical exercise that I’m advocating most. (Although I guarantee no matter what you’re thinking or doing or facing in your life, taking a 15 minute walk will improve your outlook).

No, I’m simply suggesting that at some point in your day, if you can even just walk outside and stand with your face pointed toward the sun (even if it’s behind a bank of clouds), close your eyes, plant your feet, listen for any type of a sign from nature, and take three long, slow, very deep breaths, you will feel better.

Sign From Nature?

What I mean by that is try to see or hear some indication that you’re sharing this planet with something other than just other humans. Identify one natural noise: a bird chirping, a squirrel chittering, the wind rustling leaves or tinkling wind chimes; a dog barking, a bee buzzing, peepers peeping, or crows cawing.

Depending upon where you are when you make your nature connection, you may not be able to hear anything ‘natural’ right off the bat. So you may have to look around, use your eyes or other senses, and find your connection that way.

It feels important that we remember to do this right now. We must remember, we’re part of something much bigger than just being human. We remember that by finding the light of Mother Nature.

Rising full moon – Photo: L. Weikel

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DST Arrives – Day 483

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Spartacus Making a Warm Spot – Photo: L. Weikel

DST Arrives

I’ll admit it: For the most part, I enjoy the extra daylight tacked on to the end of our days during Daylight Savings Time. Part of the reason, I suppose, is rooted in the fact that I’m generally a ‘night’ person, and I become more and more animated as the day wears on. Which is why I’m finding it a little distressing today, as DST arrives, to be reacting physically to it in a most illogical fashion.

I’m barely able to keep my eyes open!

I’m writing this post significantly earlier in the evening than I normally do. Which means that, from my body’s perspective, I’m writing even earlier than when I would usually consider earlier!

Exquisite Weather

Lucky for me (and those who live in my neck of the woods), the weather today was luscious. It was a perfect spring day – and by that, I mean the clear blue skies and gentle, cool breezes made me want to laugh, and walk zig-zag in the road, and breathe deeply.

Yes, it’s early in March to have such balmy temperatures. And yes, daffodils are probably going to bloom sometime this week, judging by how much they grew just in the past few days – and that does feel quite a bit too early.

But it was so liberating to walk without a jacket on! Funny, how the little things in life make us feel lighthearted and hopeful.

Tomorrow Should Be Even Better

They’re forecasting that it could get close to 70 degrees out tomorrow. A bit too warm for March 9thif you ask me, but I’ll take it. And I’ll run with it! Well, erm, no. I’ll walk with it. Not sure how far, but I did manage to walk six miles today, so I’m cautiously optimistic.

Which reminds me. Pretty soon – one of these evenings – I’m going to have to recapitulate my walking milestones from over the past year. Since I turned 60 on my last birthday, I’ve made a concerted effort to walk more than I used to. Now I have to tally things up. And then, perhaps, set new goals. We’ll see.

Puppies

In the meantime, it’s time for me to hit the sheets. It may not make a ton of sense that I’m more tired after ‘springing forward’ but it’s the truth for me. And I ask you: how could I resist the opportunity to snuggle with my Spartacus, who’s upstairs, as we speak, ‘making a warm spot’ for me in our bed?

And Sheila…well, she’s being her usual amazing, loving self, waiting patiently for me to finish what I’m writing so the two of us girls can make our way upstairs. She’s the best.

Remember, it’s a full moon today (Monday the 9th, when you’re probably reading this). Be extra kind to yourself today. Try to get outside, even if it’s only for a couple minutes, and allow yourself to drink in the sunshine and warmth. Sink your roots into the Earth and feel yourself connected to Her – solid, balanced, centered, and peaceful.

And if you’re not sure how you feel, smile. Everything will feel better if you do.

Sheila Snoozing With Her Monkey – Photo: L. Weikel

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Tonight’s Walk – Day 482

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Waxing Moon in Puddle – Photo: L. Weikel

Tonight’s Walk

Wow, did I need a walk this evening. I’m not even sure why, specifically, tonight’s walk felt so essential to my balance, but it did.

The moon began rising in the east before the sun had even set. Karl and I watched it rise as we set off on a four mile jaunt, both of us knowing how essential it is to remain in balance during times of stress.

Even the morning after receiving the call telling us our son had died, Karl and I walked. We walked and we walked and we walked, picking up garbage along the way like we always do. I’ll never forget it: the first day following our receipt of that horrific call, we found an empty bottle of Golden Monkey. For whatever reason, that bottle felt like a sign from him; a sign that he was OK and we should smile through our tears.

Shots of the Moon

I’m not happy with the photos I’ve taken of the moon lately. They’ve felt like they need more context, or a better zoom, or both.

So tonight I tried something different. My attempts were made through a side door, of sorts. Trying to sneak up on the moon and maybe get a bit of a head start on zooming in for a closeup by agreeing to capturing her in costume. So tonight’s almost-full moon was captured in puddles we encountered along the way.

The first one, which I placed at the top of this article, is simply a watery depiction of our magnificent moon, as she readied herself for embracing her fullness tomorrow night into Monday morning.

This photo was taken before it was even dark out. I have to admit, I never tire of trying to capture the moon’s elusive beauty, even if it ends up being her reflection cherished amongst dead leaves.

Magical Reflections

The second shot was a total surprise. While it, too, was taken as a reflection in a puddle, nighttime had fully set in and it took some fiddling to keep it from using a flash or automatically going into ‘night mode.’

Finally, nevertheless, I managed to find the right setting for the job. I’m not sure I’ll be able to replicate how I managed to discover the setting that perfectly captured what I could see in that moment, but at least I found it once.

All this photo reminds me of is that there’s magic no matter where you look: down into a puddle or up into the vast terrain of space.

Keep This In Mind

In these times of potentially needing to restrict our movements in order to minimize our exposure to the Coronavirus, let’s remember now just how much earthly and unearthly beauty surrounds us all the time. Take joy in the little things, such as moonlight reflected in a puddle of water along a country road.

If there’s any chance to walk, do so. Let’s celebrate our health, our freedom, and our unparalleled access to nature’s beauty.

Let’s celebrate the little things, like reflections in puddles.

Waxing Moon in Puddle Photo: L. Weikel

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