A Year on My Feet

I got the urge and walked briefly on Sunday. It clicked.

This morning at 6:30 I was surprised it was still dark outside. And it was raining. I slept more. Wound up going out a little before 8:00. Walked for about thirty or forty minutes. It was still cool, and it alternated between drizzling and raining lightly. I was surprised that I didn't care much. Normally I'd be really bothered by that.

It was, obviously, more pleasant to walk on the side streets, than the main boulevard nearby. A route that includes the parks and washes is going to be more appealing than a straight run around the subdivision's inner loop.

Things that surprised me:

First, how -- especially at first -- I felt vulnerable and exposed. Simply for not being in a car. I felt... accesible, instead of shut off.

Second, how much the walking persistently made me think of my Grandpa, who also liked to go on walks.

Third, how the walking reconnected me to the dozen or so years of elementary school, middle school and high school, when I walked to and from school most days.... and to the time I spent in Japan, where we walked alot, as well. It made me realize I haven't really "walked" as part of my daily required routine for... a really long time.

I saw a coin and picked it up. A penny. It seemed like there was no choice but to do this, since the coin collecting is another recently emerged hobby.

I don't know the trees or birds, despite a personal pledge of thirteen or fourteen months ago. I'd like to learn them.

Once in a while, maybe I will take my camera along, though I don't know whether the two activities are really closely compatible -- at least not the way I am used to thinking of/ approaching the use of the camera.

I am irritated that I have a 7:00 am networking event tomorrow morning. That really messes up the walking plan. It is lousy to have momentum and resolve disturbed on Day 3 of a new venture. Maybe I'll get up early and go walk briefly in the a.m. darkness.

I was surprised I had no desire to listen to the iPod I brought, loaded with audiobooks, music and podcasts. I was surprised I had no desire to work on e-mails on the Q.

I wish I had walked with A in Chicago more often. I've told her that.

It's a mild but admittable ripple of the Krakauer book, which I finished today.

Watson Lake

Daughter's Scissor-handling Skills Have Outpaced Her Money Management Skills

Looking for Water

I Will Challenge Children to Stare at Each Other Without Smiling

I will take walks and love maps.

I will clear rocks at the beach, to reveal the sand.

I will cheer for the bulls at the rodeo.

I will sing the Pepsi Cola song.

I will know that three potatoes can feed four people, barely.

I will read.

I will be me, amid everything.

I will know the infinite detail and variety in small things.

I will seek rare things in lightly traveled places.

I will study my Japanese.

I will garden.

I will remember yellow gloves, hot dishwater, an apron.

I will know the names of plants and insects that live around me.

I will remember the millions of bugs that go to bed hungry every night.

I will love my family, and tell them so.

I will endure dogfights when I must.

I will respect myself and my affairs, with my own orderly space.

I will smile.

I will give hugs.

I will endure, to continue.

I will wear earmuffs if it is the right thing to do.

I will know where cans can be recycled, and junk can be dumped.

I will love the library.

I will teach.

I will look inward for the source of peaceful joy.

I will call out those who cut corners, risking the well-being of others.

I will have farm toys in my home.

I will carry the word "fillagaloobert" with me, at the ready, wherever my life takes me.

I will love a good Bean Sandwich.

Hey Man, I'll Shine On If You Will

So, last Thursday I impulsively purchased two concert tickets from someone at work who was needing to unload them. The tickets were for tonight's Roger Waters' Pink Floyd/ Dark Side of the Moon concert. We just got home. I can't hear too well. The show was good - glad we did it. That was one of about four live shows on my "would like to see before I die" list. For example, the Talking Heads are on that list but that's not going to happen. As for tonight's show... let's just say I may have inhaled a bit. I didn't buy it, hold it, touch it, light it, see it or see the person(s) smoking it, but they must have been close 'cuz boy did we smell it and boy do we smell like it now. If you thought the air in the planetarium shows got hazy, this was a whole new level of hazy.

And I have to get up in about five hours, so that's all for now.

Thanks to Roger W. for a fine, enriching evening.

Update

"Sleeping Beauty" went well this afternoon. The tickets we bought from the dance mom yesterday were excellent - literally the center of the front row. The production was aimed at kids, but wasn't silly or dumb, and it was good. Girl Jr. asked me lots of questions all the way through, and got a cookie at the intermission. After the curtain call, the actors literally took a knee on the stage and invited the kids to come down and ask questions. Since they were about three feet away right in front of us, we simply stood up and chatted with them for a minute, then headed out (giving Girl Jr. a quick tour of the balcony before leaving). It was fun. We'll do it again.

Girl Sr. passed her motorcycle training course. If we decide to become polygamous, I think this is who we will invite into the marraige: