On walking

I haven’t been to the gym in, well, many weeks. There, I said it. It’s been cold, it’s been dark and our bed was nice and warm at 5am which is the only time of day I have to exercise. And there has been spooning. I love spooning.

Last night I decided that today would be The Day, so at 5am this morning I dragged my sorry ass out of bed and realised that it was sort of light enough to walk outdoors in our beautiful suburb instead of heading off to the gym where the lights and sounds can be pretty jarring.

So off I went, at a considerably slower pace than several, er, weeks ago.

It was the absolute best walk I’ve had since the last time I walked outdoors at 5am, a good 7 months ago, a promise of summer now in the air.

It felt like visiting old friends. I meandered past all my favourite houses on my usual route, some of which are being renovated, some that are now for sale. I passed the pretty B&B that never seems to have anyone staying there, even though it is immaculately maintained. The house that has been standing empty since this time last year as the owners only seem to be able to work on it over weekends, although they’ve made great progress. The house with the really loud electric fencing.

I saw some of the usual people I used to see, the lady jogging with her sweet poodle, the guy with his boxer that’s never on a leash. The guy in a bakkie dropping off newspapers. The frail older man walking his large black dog.

Toward the end of my walk I get to walk right next to the vineyards, I always save this best bit until last, the vineyards are so very beautiful this time of year as they explode in green leaves, soon to be heavy with grapes. The rising sun kissing the hills. The sounds of a neighbourhood waking up slowly.

It was so lovely I may just do it again tomorrow.

One thought on “On walking”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *