In Which Amy Goes For a Walk and Makes An Acquaintance
Very Fond of Walking, Pt. 1
Very Fond of Walking
In April I decided my sabbatical should involve a lot of walking. A friend of mine had just done a twenty mile walk on the weekend because, as she said, “I was having a tough time being a good person last week.”
I had also listened to an interview of Craig Mod, professional writer, photographer, and walker, who takes friends on thoughtful pilgrimages through beautiful places to talk about anything and everything in depth.
To top it off, I just spent the last 4.5 years sitting at a desk 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and generally not getting out very much. Surely the cure for this is to get moving.
I started today by walking 10 miles just in my town. Don’t ask me why I picked 10 miles - it sounded like a fine distance for a Long Walk. My town isn’t that big, only about 2 miles across, but the houses and buildings are beautiful and there are several small parks, so I threw on a Camelbak and walked out my front door.
For the first mile or two my mind was whirring. What would I write about later? What would I discover? Should I be drinking water yet? Am I going to be playing leap-frog with the garbage truck all day?
Eventually I settled in. I quit trying to look at everything and got into the rhythm of walking. The weather was perfect to me: foggy and mid-sixties.
Around mile 5, it started thundering. It sounded far off, a passing storm. I thought about heading toward the center of town so I might have a business to duck into if it decided to start pouring buckets, but decided I could get a little wet, what’s the harm?
Fast forward a mile and a half and lightning is striking maybe 400 meters away from me. I ducked one way because the trees were bigger on one street and looked more protective. I tried to remember what I learned about lightning safety back in Scouting. I decided to start jogging and see if I can make it back to the center of town, but I wasn’t exactly sure where I was.
Just as the rain starts to spit down in big, fat drops, I run into a lady dashing in the other direction carrying a pair of gardening loppers. “Do you want to come in my house?” she shouts at me as the heavens open up. “I sure would!”
I hurried to follow my new best friend into her mudroom, thanking her and making quick introductions. Her name is Kathy, and she figured she had better be inside rather than holding large metal loppers in a thunderstorm.
Now the wind is blowing open the screen door, and as Kathy goes to secure it we see that it has started hailing. I thank my good fortune for running into Kathy just then. I check the radar on my phone and see that it’s a very small storm, so hopefully I won’t have to impose too long, but Kathy and her husband, sitting at the kitchen table balancing a checkbook, are very friendly, offering me a glass of water and asking about where I live and what I’m up to. We find (unsurprisingly) that her husband knows of my in-laws.
In just a few minutes, the wind and rain has tapered off and the thunder is once again off in the distance. I take my leave and finish off my walk without further interruption.
When I started walking, it felt a shame to walk through town without meeting anybody new, but at the same time, I don’t love starting conversations with strangers. When Craig Mod goes walking he makes conversation with all sorts of people, and often asks to take their portraits. I didn’t think I would have the gumption to make a new acquaintance, but it turns out the storm took care of that for me. What an amazing thing.
Today I:
Walked 10 miles
Took a shower, ate lunch, and wrote my morning pages
Went to a local coffee shop and found out not only am I not productive at a coffee shop, I forget my entire train of thought. But I did get a nice chat with the owners and posted a sale flyer for our sailboat.1
Came home and designed a personal business card, wrote this post, and had a fight with my home internet. I think my modem died.
Today I felt:
Mostly, my feet hurt. I did like getting moving and I about doubled my knowledge of the town parks and trails. I think I could have used a nap after lunch and I’m not sure why I didn’t take one.
I can still feel the hamster brain whirring around: what am I doing? I figure by the time this goes away, it will be time to get a job.
Tomorrow I want to:
Start the day with a short run
Go to a yoga class midday
Start a personal coding project - more to come
I don’t want to, but I might have to figure out how to get a new internet modem
Know anyone who wants to buy a boat?