The only way that I’m keeping myself together right now is by a walking regime that I’ve started. Each day I walk for 1.5 hours, no matter the weather, be it wind, rain or shine. I’ve been doing this for 33 days and the physical and mental health benefits are welcome.
Yesterday was extra special because in a normal year I would have taken part in a local tradition, the RidgeWalk. In years past I’ve shown up at this “race” and huffed and puffed my way up and down some steep wooded hills for 6 miles, trying to convince myself that I was fit because I could get through it.
This year was different because I’ve been taking care of my soul by walking off the stress and the cookies and the panic and the race was virtual.
So yesterday a friend and I walked alone through the almost bare woods on the farm for 2.5 hours, simulating the Ridgewalk. The landscape and the trees remind me of Bonnie Hunter’s latest pattern, Appalachian Autumn — all grays and golds and rusts and browns. It was beautiful and it was cleansing.
Keep putting one foot in front of the other, my friends.