A storm was passing by to the South as I started on my walk, which made for a dramatic start.  Near the end of my walk, there were scissortails flitting about between a group of red cedars and the fence across the street.  At one point, a hawk flew overhead with a scissortail chasing after him.  They kept popping in and out of view for a few moments, but of course as soon as I’d get my phone out I wouldn’t see them anymore.  And they’d show up as soon as I gave up.  I assume the hawk was chased off successfully; ahead a bit, the males continued flitting about, trying to catch the eyes of the females.

Today’s walk was good, but I was having a difficult time with the gravel.  You would think they had enlarged it overnight; I was slipping on it terribly.  I’m looking forward to walking somewhere paved.  It’s unfortunate because I love my walks out here for the things I see, but they are quite hard on my feet.

Yesterday I kept having the feeling that I just couldn’t believe the day was still going.  I’m usually incapable of processing more than one task in a day.  It all feels overwhelming and the days slip by so quickly—a bit of ADHD.  It was such a strange feeling and I wonder if it has to do with regular exercise.  Look, I know I’m not running marathons each morning.  I’m not doing bodybuilding…. I’m just walking, and really at the end of the day 2 miles isn’t even all that much walking.  But it’s huge for me.  I started walking at the beginning of April.  My goal was to walk everyday, to set a reasonable goal that I could achieve, and do as much as I could do before I thought I needed to stop (pain or whatever).  During that first week, I was averaging .75 miles per walk.  And that was all I could do.  That was a huge change from August 2023 when I walked to the end of the house and back and it was wiped out for the rest of the day.  Or October 2023, when I was using my exercise bike.  I looked at my log and I had one days of 14 minutes and one of 16 minutes, and I remember those being monumentally huge accomplishments.  So, my three quarter mile walks in April felt like a pretty big deal.  At this point, I’m doing 2 miles each morning.  I’m focused more on pace than on increasing that distance, but I’ll also increase the distance soon probably.  

What I’m feeling most ready for, rather than upsetting my walking routine, is doing some other types of exercise later in the day.  Of course, I have no clue where to start.  That is still what the internet is for—until it starts generating nonsensical workout routines for me via AI.  But the info in out there.  I’m ready to go find it.  And I’m ready to fill my days with things to do.  If there are really this many hours in a day, I’m both excited about my future and a little disappointed in my past.  Such is life.

[Walk #78]