Taking a Walk

Last summer and fall, DH and I were in the very healthy habit of walking daily. (Well, I should say that I walked and DH ran. He's been a runner all his life, ran with his kids when he coached and continues to run now in retirement.) Anyway, for simplicity's sake, I say that we go walking.

As I came down with nearly incapacitating sciatic nerve pain in early November and didn't get relief until well into February, we got out of that habit. The winter weather plus the fact that I taught 2 mornings a week was enough to keep us in for a few more months.

I am happy to report that we have been getting back into the walking habit again! We prefer to go early in the morning, so we have it done and the whole day free to do whatever happens to be on the agenda.

We drive about 6 miles over to Frankfort to walk on a very nicely maintained bike path. Yes, I know we have perfectly good roads right here that we could walk on, but we don't seem to be as faithful as we ought. Anyway, here is what our path looks like at 7:30 in the morning.

We have had some wonderful weather and the mornings are just the right temperature for getting out there. At first, I was winded just doing 1 mile. Sitting all winter with that sciatic business really took its toll. In recent weeks, I have worked myself up to 3 miles now and I plan very soon to move up to 4. It's becoming a real pleasure to be out there and getting those miles in. There's enough variety in the scenery that it never becomes tedious.

On Tuesday morning, I found this lonely little flower growing out of the gravel. I'd never seen any of these before, but I determined that it must be a wild poppy.

Yesterday, I found others, not nearby, but also on our path. There are actually a lot of them. Very pretty and a very pleasant addition to our scenery. (Yes, that's poison ivy just behind it.)

I keep track of the miles and the days I walk. I saw a pinterest post that said taking an hour every day to exercise is just 1/24th of your day. That perspective is helpful in keeping me motivated.

Happy Quilting, Friends!