Walking

Have I mentioned here that I’ve taken up the sport of walking? Well, I have.

I don’t know a lot about addiction. I’m lucky in that vein… I’ve never had a problem with alcohol… IF I have a drink, I have A drink… maybe 2. It’s been nearly a decade since I’ve been drunk. And I’ve only ONCE tried an illegal drug… I took a hit off a cousin’s joint. Okay I took several.

Well, I DO smoke. So I fully admit to having at least one addiction. I imagine somewhere out there, there’s a Smokers Anonymous program (and please don’t misconstrue that comment… I mean no disparaging remark to AA).

But now, I seem to have developed another addiction… to walking! (Another side note… I really don’t intend by this comment to minimize addictions.) I can’t seem to get enough! And when I walk I need, NEED, to know how far I’ve walked! I get a bit of a natural high off of a good walk!

I washed my pedometer this week. $60 down the drain… almost literally! I forgot it was attached to my shorts and threw them in the washer. By the time the new one arrived, I thought I’d go crazy not knowing how many steps I’d taken each day.

Every morning, I get up before dawn and get a cup of coffee. Then, I go check email and skim through my list of blogs, opening them all in tabs, then closing the tabs that have nothing new. I leave the remaining tabs for later.

Then I get dressed. First the socks, then the shoes… then, ahem, my underwear, t-shirt and shorts. Why? I have no clue. All other times of the day, I dress the NORMAL way, with shoes and socks last. TMI?

Then, I grab my bottle of specially prepared gatorwater and head out the door. I walk up the hill, listening as I walk (no stroll, this, I mean WALK… HARD!) to the sounds from the houses as families wake up.

About 8 blocks up the hill, the hill starts to steepen. Two more blocks and the hill is now pronounced. I turn right and walk a block over, then left and another block, then right once more. I’m at the foot of Eliott… This is a STEEP hill… without breaking stride, I begin my climb. I have to change my gait a little, or the arthritis of my knee would lock me up. But I keep my pace. By the time I’m at the top of the hill, I’m out of breath, but I don’t stop.

I start down the other side. By the time the hill levels out to a bit of a downward slant, my breathing is back to normal. This is good.

Because now I finally slow down and creep another 20 yards until the hill to the right gives way to the edge of the lawn by the nursing home. There she is. Every morning. She’s a beautiful girl, always with her two children trailing along.

She looks up at me with those big beautiful eyes, every bit of her attention now on me as she tenses.

I stop. I whisper sweet nothings to her. Finally she relaxes. Behind her, her children look expectantly at her, waiting for her to give some kind of signal. They utterly disregard me. It’s MOM who they focus on.

After several minutes, I tell her I have to go. She nods her assent, then bends her long graceful neck to her task. I turn and walk off, looking over my shoulder at her. Every morning it’s the same… and for some reason, every morning a tune from Sound of Music pops into my mind… I wonder… am I in love?

“Doe… a deer… a female deer!”

A little further down the path, I sometimes see a raccoon run down in to the creek at my approach. Then I’m over the bridge, and across the highway. From here, its a straight shot down to another highway, a right turn, and 10 minutes later… an hour after starting off… I’m home. I check my faithful pedometer. 5,485 steps. Let’s see, a 3 foot stride, 5,485 steps… that’s 16,455 feet…uh, come one brain do it… do it…. dooo ittt… ah, yes! 3.11 miles. Sigh. Tomorrow I need to add some to my route. 3.11 miles a morning is just NOT enough!

Scott is now up, feeding the cats. Nikki jumps all over me as though I’ve been gone a week. The lights come on. I strip off the shoes and socks, the shorts and, uh, shorts. I put a towel over the office chair so that the sweat which now streams off me won’t damage the stained fabric… then pour another coffee, sit down and read the blogs that interest me.

I always finish with the same one… one of the few bloggers I feel like I’m beginning to know.

It’s now 3:30 p.m. I only have 12 and a half hours before I can do my walk again. I need it! I WANT it! I can’t wait!