walking

Back in the Saddle – Day 463

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February Flowers – Photo: L. Weikel

Back in the Saddle

It’s been six days since I managed to get any serious walking in. Between the weather and work and other obligations, I’ve simply not logged the mileage. And I have to admit: I yearn to get back in the saddle and return to Mother Nature.

Last week was a bust. And the most frustrating thing about it, to me, is that last week I probably could’ve most used the exposure to nature and the physical connection to the earth.

I just checked the tracker on my phone and see that from last Monday to Saturday, I averaged less than half a mile per day. My top day I managed to walk 0.51 miles and my worst I only walked 0.29 miles. Not good.

A Re-New(ed) Leaf

I’ve at least managed to start this week out on a much better foot. I averaged 4.3 yesterday and 4.1 today.

I have to admit, I was both excited and delighted by the mild weather today. Simply having sunshine brightening my windows made a difference in my mood. And that’s double-edged warmth and sunshine, since they’re coaxing dramatic spring growth to not only sprout but now blossom here and there.

Cloud Raptor – Photo: L. Weikel

Bits of Magic

But the best part about getting back out on my walking circuit is the opportunity to stumble across random messengers in the sky and discover assorted bits of magic on blankets of moss simply awaiting my gaze.

For instance, I was given a timely reminder to rise up and shift my perspective on recent events in my life when I looked up and saw what appeared, to me at least, to be an obvious cloud raptor hovering above me. “Get up, Lisa! Rise above the shock and sadness,” I could hear it admonishing me. “See what’s playing out, where it originated, and where it’s headed.”

No small task, but absolutely do-able; at least the first two suggestions anyway. Hard to tell where anything’s headed in the world right now.

What’s the Lesson?

Funny you should ask. Only several hundred yards from where I first discovered the cloud raptor, I started taking photos of little yellow flowers blossoming in a cluster on hillock of moss surrounding a maple tree.

There it was, plain as day (to my nature-starved eyes, anyway). A piece of bark in the shape of a wolf’s head. Hmm. According to the Medicine Cards®*, Wolf might represent the teacher, the pathfinder, or the forerunner of new ideas that need to be shared with the clan.

Maybe. Maybe not.

At the very least, I feel I’m being told to ‘look for teachings’ no matter what is happening – and trust my intuition. Nothing is random; and I can only imagine (and trust) my eyes needed to be opened.

One thing is for certain: it feels great to be back in the saddle, seeing the signs, listening to Mother Nature, and feeling her love and support.

Bark Wolf – Photo: L. Weikel

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(T-648)

Getting Out the Door – Day 423

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Pile of Beasts at My Feet – Photo: L. Weikel

Getting Out the Door

Karl and I took a walk this evening. I realize this is not, in itself, “BREAKING NEWS,” especially since we’ve managed a walk every single day that it hasn’t rained so far this year. It’s a solid start to the decade.

Anyway, it was around 6:30 p.m. when we made it out the door tonight, so darkness was ‘full-on.’

Let me be clear: tonight was one of those nights when we just barely made it out the door. Neither one of us was inclined to brave the cold, probably because it’s been so mild up to this point. Hearing the wind pick up and blow the front door open made it seem even colder than it was.

Indeed, I think we were each hoping the other would just boldly back out or at the very least express a sincere, compelling, and justifiable desire to remain home.

Alas, whining about how cold we were before we’d even gone outside failed to meet that threshold. Whining that we were sore, or just plain tired and cranky didn’t work either. Whining, while routinely attempted, rarely if ever wins the day in this household.

We did, however, cut Sheila some slack. We allowed her to remain asleep, snuggled in her blankets, snoring rhythmically. She’s been under the weather recently. She’s on antibiotics for what seems like a low-grade infection in a couple of places. But she’s also experiencing some other age-related issues, and we don’t want to stress her.

She may drag her heels when we start out on a walk, but regardless of whether we go two or four miles, once she’s warmed to the idea, she’s all in. (Spartacus, on the other hand, is always game.)

Blue Light

As soon as we started walking up the road this evening, we were enchanted. The moon was rising, and had climbed to about a third of the way up into the sky. Puffy clouds were in the sky, and the moon’s reflection was so distinctly brilliant, it bounced off the clouds and it almost looked like a very overcast day.

Yet everything was tinged in a distinctly blue light. For the most part, the sky was astonishingly clear (especially given how cloudy it had been late this afternoon when snow squalls threatened), which only made the distinct ease of viewing the cumulus clouds even more stunning.

All the way around (yes, we only did the ‘walk-around’ of 2.2 miles), we kept marveling at the brightness illuminating the fields, filtering through the leafless branches of the woods, and the blue tinge to absolutely everything.

Is It Cheating?

We walked a long chunk of the distance in silence. Discussing politics, especially recent events, felt like we were fouling the environment. Talk of work was far too mundane to bring out into the blue light.

Was it cheating to deliberately wait until we stood a good chance of hearing the Great Horned Owls and the Screech Owls we’d heard a few nights ago, calling to each other across the ravine  slashed into the earth by the Tohickon?

Who cares? We both needed a restorative dose of Mother Earth. And I have to tell you: it was more than worth the effort to bundle up!

If you have a chance, take in that stunning moon that’s so very close to fullness. Look at the world through cornflower blue lenses. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

(T-688)

Spontaneous Pick – Day 373

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Jaguar Jet – Photo: L. Weikel

Spontaneous Pick

Man, I hate it when I sit down to begin writing my post for the evening and I struggle to keep my eyes open and my head from slumping into my chest.

Clearly, this will be a short post.

Jaguar

I want to share with you the cool airplane I saw today when mine pulled into its gate. It felt particularly significant as a message, given that I’d not had a chance to pick my Medicine Cards* this morning.

Being confronted by such a direct and obvious image of one of these ‘Big Cats’ encouraged me to be mindful today of acting in a manner that promotes integrity and encourages impeccable behavior.

Walking and Eating

I felt Jaguar was looking me square in the eye and encouraging me to once again re-commit to my walking routine again. I thus resumed with a four mile constitutional late this afternoon. It felt refreshing and invigorating at the time – but I do believe it may be contributing to my falling asleep sitting up this evening.

Another aspect of my life in which I need to apply some integrity and impeccability is my eating habits. It’s time to get back to listening to my body.

Writing

It’s also time to sit quietly with my journal (and laptop) and figure out where all of this – or that – is going. It just feels like time.

Other Applications?

Perhaps this spontaneous pick of Jaguar greeted me this morning so I could examine the myriad ways in which integrity and impeccability can be reintroduced into my world.

Reflecting on where Jaguar wants me to embrace its attributes is a wonderful way for me to spend tomorrow’s end of Mercury retrograde (“Mercury going direct”). It just feels right.

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(T-738)

Declaration – Day 283

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Christmas Sheila – Photo: L. Weikel

Declaration              

I need to ‘fess up and make the following declaration: I NEED TO GET WALKING AGAIN!

The sad, sad truth is that I haven’t logged more than 2.3 miles (which I walked on Monday) in a single day since Sunday, August 4th, when I walked 3.7 miles. That’s simply unacceptable.

I did have one day that yielded interesting stats, though. Check it out:

 

In my defense, my most compelling excuse has been the oppressive heat and humidity that’s been blanketing our area. And for all you who live anywhere near me, you know the operative word here is, in fact, blanketing. It almost squeezes the breath out of you when you walk out the door and feel the heaviness of the air put the squeeze on you like those new weighted blankets I’ve seen being advertised.

Blame It On Sheila

And I don’t dare take Sheila. She’ll keel over. In fact, the old girl has given us a scare a couple of times recently, just deciding she’s going to ‘go on walkabout.’ We put her harness on, turn away to get her leash or pack some treats in a bag to take along on the walk and suddenly discover she’s decided to start the walk without us.

She’s never been like this! She’s always been the one we could consistently rely upon to stay on the porch and not wander off.

And what makes everything exponentially worse about the situation is that she really and truly is deaf – and pretty blind, too. The cataracts look pretty complete in one eye, and not insignificant in the other eye as well.

We can only guess that she (a) knows the way by rote, as she’s walked it so very many times throughout her life; and (b) her nose, combined with her recollection of the ‘usual’ walk itself, is her guiding light.

Nose Trumps All (and gets her in trouble)

Speaking of that nose, though… I think that’s what got her in trouble the other day.

Karl and I thought we might sneak in a quick walk (the 2.2) on Monday morning, before either of us plunged headlong into our day. We put on the pups’ harnesses in anticipation, even though we had yet to pick out cards for the day.

As we were choosing our cards, we suddenly realized that Sheila had wandered off. It’s weird. She and Spart are always around. We don’t pay constant attention to them – they’re just part of our lives. Sitting on the couch, cuddled on their outside pillow, basking in the sun on the grass when we’re outside, etc.

So it was all of a sudden that Karl looked at me aghast and asked, “Where’s Sheila?”

I looked around, my eyes surveying in a smooth search of the perimeter all of her usual haunts. No Sheila.

DARN it. We’d only minutes before joked about how we’d have to keep an eye on her, since we were putting her harness on. We were pretty sure she only went on walkabout, though, if we happened to leave her out on the porch by herself.

Well that was debunked almost immediately.

You Search One Way, I’ll Search Another

Karl, based on an experience he’d had right before leaving to pick me up at the airport Sunday morning, jumped into his car to do a sweep of our walking route.

Spartacus and I, on the other hand, headed back behind the barn. I was calling her, even though I knew that was fruitless, and also clapping my hands. Clapping seems to be the most effective and reliable way of getting her attention lately.

So I’m out there calling and clapping, calling and clapping. I go all the way back behind the barn to the wildflowers I pictured in last night’s post, checking in the tall, tall grasses, stopping now and again to see if there was any movement or sign of my Sheila.

Nope

Reluctantly, Spart and I head back up to the house. I just keep calling and clapping, calling and clapping.

Then I hear it: an unfamiliar rustling sound. I step off the porch. It sounds like it’s coming from the garage. I keep calling and clapping, calling and clapping.

More rustling. As I get closer, it now sounds like it’s coming from outside the garage. Perhaps the grove of trees just beyond it?

That’s when I encountered this:

Yes; apparently Sheila’s nose had diverted her into the garage, where she scored an empty bag of chips Karl had squirreled away while painting when I was at Amadell. Busted!

And there was Sheila, pretty well stuck. I’m sure all my calling and clapping had motivated her to come out of the garage – but her internal GPS was distorted inside the chip bag. While she may have known she took a wrong turn and been frustrated, I have no doubt her stress was significantly ameliorated by the yummy salt, fat, and chip crumb heaven she found herself in.

(Spartacus kept sniffing and licking the back of her head the rest of the day.)

We need to walk.

(T-828)

Treasures From My Walk – Day 263

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Photo: L. Weikel

Treasures From Our Walk  

It feels like it’s been forever since Karl and I had a chance to take one of our walks. But we managed to take one this evening. In fact, we went around twice, just for good measure. Along the way, we picked up some cool treasures from our walk.

The first discovery was this greatly intact butterfly. When I discover butterflies that are fully intact, I assume (rightly or wrongly), that it’s been hit by a car. Too many times, I’ve been driving along and suddenly see a butterfly, flying in a characteristically loop-the-loop flight pattern, waft out into the path of my car. Often it’s too late or too difficult to avoid hitting it; and all I can do it hope that the air current passing over my car will buffer the delicate one from slamming into my windshield.

Sometimes we get lucky; sometimes we don’t.

I’m afraid that’s probably what happened to this lovely one, which I found on the side of the gravel road near High Rocks. It’s too intact. It obviously wasn’t killed by anything that tried to eat it.

 

A Surprise Peeking Out of the Mud

Later in our walk, I noticed the Township road crew had recently dredged out along the side of the road. With a combination of scraping and scooping, they cleaned up the piles of mud and debris that have accrued as a result of the flash flood-inducing rains. The sides of the road have been getting pretty full lately, to be honest.

Something bright and pretty caught my eye, flashing a smile at me from the muck left behind. What a pretty mushroom! I was struck by how bright a color it is, and even more so when I got up close and saw the bright yellow outline around its cap.

I’m trusting one of you will fill me in on precisely what kind of a mushroom this is.

Photo: L. Weikel

Frog But No Photo

I also found a dead frog, but alas, I did not take its photo. Truth be told, Sheila found the half-dessicated frog while taking a pit stop to add her scent to the neighbor’s flower bed. I saw her suddenly shaking her head in the characteristic fashion she  employs when she’s trying really hard to swallow whole some disgusting tidbit before having to “drop it!” when we realize what she’s doing.

I declined to photograph the frog. It was not particularly flattering. But that makes me think of another frog I photographed along that same route quite some time ago. I’ll see if I can find it and will post it here, too.

Woman-Frog – Photo: L. Weikel

Success!

Tell me you don’t see the woman with upraised arms?!?

Treasures from our walks. We’re so incredibly lucky to live here.

(T-848)

Not Another Weather Post – Day 253

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Blue Heron Hanging at a Pond Beside the Road – Photo: L. Weikel

Not Another Weather Post                                                 

I will admit, I am as loathe to write another post focusing primarily on the weather as you are to read one.

But I have to tell you: for a person who mostly listens to others and usually doesn’t do much of the talking, it’s hard to come up with something to ‘talk about’ every day. That’s especially true when you consider that there are many days when I don’t leave my home. And even some days when I barely leave my porch.

Today, for instance, I reveled in getting lots of emails written, forms completed and submitted, and appointments scheduled. Yet I barely left my porch. And while I managed to cross a lot of tasks off my ‘to do’ list, having a productive day does not necessarily translate into having much to write about. At least, not anything that might hold interest to many, if any, of you.

Lost Opportunity

One thing that happened today was a moment of excitement, rapidly whisked away by a flood of disappointment. Last week I received an invitation from my law school to secure tickets to attend a “conversation” with The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The notice indicated that tickets would become available online at 10:00 a.m. this morning.

You can guess how successful I was in scoring tickets. Not at all.

But it was fun to imagine, even if only for a millisecond, having the opportunity to listen to and experience this icon in person.

A Vow for Tomorrow

Surprisingly, the wild storm last night did not usher in a new wave of pleasant weather. It cooled things off a little bit, but not significantly. In fact, I was surprised by how miserable the weather turned out to be again by late this afternoon.

Ooops – I just realized I’ve begun talking about the weather again. Gah.

Well, it was really just a segue into what I wanted to say about walking. It’s official: I just allowed an entire week, a vast seven days, to go by without walking as much as one pathetic mile. Appalling!

The last mileage of any consequence that I walked was last Monday, when I walked three miles. The day before that I walked 6.5 miles.

Re-Committing

I guess that’s something I could write more about tomorrow. I was really on a roll there for quite a while. And I’ll tell you: I miss my walks.

So my Vow for Tomorrow is to renew my walking. I’m beyond eager to do so. I yearn to be walking again. I don’t care how long my session lasts tomorrow, I know the weather should be exquisite for a walk by the time I get home – and I intend to take one.

Let’s hope I can snag a photo or two that can inspire me to write about something fascinating or intriguing.

In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with this little critter, who kept insisting upon marching across the top edge of my computer earlier today.

Little Green Spider – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-858)

Sunset – Day 239

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Summer Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

Summer Sunset                                   

As Karl and I were taking a walk this evening, I was stopped in my tracks when I caught sight of the setting sun.

The fiery orange-red ball appeared massive as it gave the illusion of setting amongst the branches of a towering oak. I almost asked Karl to pretend to place his hands around it or on top of it or whatever so we could create one of those optical illusion photos.

But instead of doing something hokey like that, I opted to attempt to capture the simple beauty of the sun in relation to its own stunning surroundings.

As you can see, the photo turned out reasonably well. I assure you, it does not capture the magnificence of just how grand the sun appeared this evening. But the beauty suffices. If you open your heart to take in the color captured as the orb sank below the horizon, you can appreciate why I tried.

If you are lucky enough to have the personal mobility, I urge you to take a walk tomorrow. Don’t let another day go by without drinking in the beauty of our world.

(T-872)

A Sense of Oneness – Day 238

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View of Cemetery from Ridge Trail – Photo: L. Weikel

A Sense of Oneness                        

Today I had the opportunity to walk along well-kept trails through a remarkably quiet, delightfully fragrant New England evergreen forest.

Peering out over jagged-edged outcroppings, we looked across the Farmington River valley and could see the pale monuments of the cemetery in the distance.

A few hours later, we sat at the peak of that very same cemetery and drank in the beauty of the ridge across the valley that we’d just ascended.

View of the ridge from the cemetery – Photo: L. Weikel

A Spectacular Sense of Peace

There was a peace about today; a shared appreciation of Mother Nature’s gifts and the nurturing she is so willing to give to us – if we simply ask, and then open ourselves up to receive her generosity.

I close my eyes as I write this post and can once again instantly feel immersed in the aroma of that forest.

And while I’m not one to ordinarily frequent cemeteries, I for some reason asked if we could walk there as well. I wanted to be in the cemetery we saw from the ridge line.

Once there, I felt a sense of connection between these two experiences that I must admit surprised me. What I found most remarkable was the unmistakable sense of shared quietude each place afforded.

I felt a sense of oneness.

Another view from ridge trail – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-873)

I Got Distracted – Day 234

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Setting Out – Photo: L. Weikel

I Got Distracted                   

I’ll admit it; I got distracted this evening. I became engrossed in trying to edit my Listening Retreats page on my website, and when I looked up, I was (am) appalled to discover that it’s 12:41 a.m. Even worse, I could not for the life of me manage to substitute the photo at the top of the page!

I don’t know where the evening went tonight. Well, yes, I do.

Karl and I took an amazingly wonderful walk this evening.

In spite of the rain that fell sporadically throughout the day, the air just kept getting thicker and hotter. So much so, that we knew we weren’t even going to bother walking until the sun was much lower in the sky.

As a result, we didn’t set out until 7:30 p.m. or so. Since we took the walk-about route (4 miles), by the time we got home the clock was pushing 9:00 p.m.

Oh, but can I tell you? It was SO worth it!

The mists of the Faerie Kingdom – Photo: L. Weikel

We Walked Into a Magical Kingdom

It was as if we walked through a magical storybook. At first, high swirling clouds and the setting sun painted messages in the sky. About half a mile later, we encountered fields where everything was muffled under a blanket of light fog – which even, quite eerily, crept out onto the road.

As we continued into the shelter of the towering trees near High Rocks, darkness started seeping into our consciousness and we became quiet and pensive. But of course, this quietude lasted barely an eyeblink because – of course – the lightning bugs started their evening ascension, which never fails to bring delight and a light-hearted joyfulness to our time together.

I must try to get those photos uploaded right now, so I can share them with you. The lightning bugs, though – they are elusive, at least in the eye of an iPhone’s camera.

Mist Crossing the Road – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-877)

Time That Got Away – Day 227

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Lone Daisy in a Field of Green – Photo: L. Weikel

Time That Got Away           

Playing on the title of yesterday’s post, the Photo That Got Away, I’m backhandedly admitting that I got caught up tonight in watching the post-debate opinion-fest in ‘real time,’ which means I just looked at the time and realize I only have 29 minutes to the witching hour!

Which reminds me: I’ve been slacking off on the walking. I’ve managed at least two miles every day in the last week or so, but I’ve yearned to do more. The thing is, it takes time.

And it’s funny. I do not begrudge the time it takes me to walk four – six – eight miles. But I sometimes find myself wishing I could write or read while I walk. Those are two of my other favorite activities of mine.

Yes, I know, I could listen to an audio book while I walk. I could listen to an audio book while I mow lawn, too. But I don’t. I do not want to block out the noises of my walk with headphones or earbuds. And I truly love birdsong. I love silence as well. And yeah, I even like (I don’t love, but neither do I loathe) the drone of a 3 hp lawnmower.

I Need to Reconfigure My Time

When I’m walking by myself, the most I will do is occasionally field a phone call while I walk. But even when I do that, I find myself surprised and a little disappointed that I’ve walked a certain distance and I’m not entirely sure what I may have passed.

So I guess what I’m saying is that I wish there were more hours in the day. (I realize that’s rich coming from a person who needs eight hours of sleep.) But especially when it starts getting hot out, like today, I find myself wishing I’d gone on my walk-about in the very early hours of the morning.

I’m getting the feeling that the onset of truly sustained, summer heat is going to require me to reconfigure my timing of certain activities.

Yes, some part of my current routine needs to shift.

(T-884)