I think I'm addicted

. . . to walking.

I'm really enjoying walking these days. I'm a morning person and my energy generally fades away to nil sometime shortly after dinner (usually by dessert). I thought for a while that if I didn't walk first thing in the morning it wouldn't happen. But my brain wants a cup of coffee first, my belly hollers for breakfast and my hair sticking up in all directions is a good indication that I should shower first before heading outside where I can be seen. (At least one person will pass me on the road. Maybe.) Coffee drunk, breakfast consumed, shower done (hair tamed). I don't want to get all sweaty now - I just showered. So evening walks it is and it's not hard to get out there - I surprise myself. I so enjoy walking. So much that last night it was raining softly and I was really disappointed. I thought of walking anyway - I'd get wet, so what? - but I guess I'm not THAT addicted yet. (Pat, I bet you'd just go and get wet, right?)

Summer Evening Walks

That last hour before sunset is such a perfect time for walking in the summer. Last night there was a bit of a breeze and things were cooling down already. I took a quick picture of the lilies before I hit the road.



I usually walk to the next road and then head north. It takes me past the retired veterinarian's house. Sometimes one of his antique cars is out and its something to look at. If not, his yard is pretty with a wood rail fence, lots of trees and a garden area. Then it's fields on either side until the railroad tracks. The corn is already knee high and looks like line art when you look down the rows. It just popped through the ground a few weeks ago. It grows so fast. Soon we'll be surrounded by walls of corn and no view to the north or south. On the other side of the railroad tracks is a field that's never planted, just lots of wild plants and tall grass. In the evening the red winged blackbirds are all over the field, singing and flitting around and, I'm guessing, busy with a last burst of energy before settling down for the night.


Last night I turned south instead, and walked along the gravel road. Since it had rained earlier in the day I figured I was safe - I wouldn't get covered in dust if a car came along. This took me along the wheat field. Its already turning from green to gold.



There were lots of little, colorful wildflowers (weeds?) growing in the ditches. The colors were peeking through the long grass.

And, perfect timing, the sun was setting just as I was getting back home. Time to get off the road.

oh beans!

I love it when the bean fields start to turn yellow. There is a sea of color, blended greens and yellows.

A summer walk

Today was a Decorative day and I had some things that I needed to give to Sarah so we met for lunch... AND she brought Cooper! He's so cute I don't know how his parents stand it. He had grapes and cheese and watermelon and sweet potato fries and seemed to love it all. Sarah had some new barbeque burger creation (I remember those breastfeeding days when I could eat anything and never gain a pound.... Sarah's still losing (pounds, that is). I had salad (trying to be healthy and calorie concious, don't ya know) and cream of potato soup (mmmm) and Hot Fudge Brownie ala mode (cause you can't go to Baker's Square and not get dessert - it's a rule). I felt so guilty I had to walk tonight. It was a totally typical August evening...

Summer is my very favorite time of year. To me each month of summer is a little different.
June usually starts out hesitant, sometimes warm, sometimes hot, sometimes cool but with promise. By the time it's half over there are warm days, blue blue skies and you can just get lost in there and feel like summer is stretched out in front of you and will last forever. Knee Deep in June is the most relaxing, lazy place to be. (It's also a poem by James Whitcomb Riley and if you want to really experience it, you need to listen to Scott read it.)
July is celebrations and picnics and parades and county fairs. After the Fourth of July you already start talking about how fast summer is going by. All the flowers that you planted in May and June are filling in. The weather turns from very warm to hot.
Then August... this evening was pure August. Scott & I went for a walk after supper (ok, I walked & he scootered). It was near dusk and it was hot and the air was heavy. The sun was almost down, just a last bit of pink spread out in a few layers. You could hear the locusts (or tree toads or whatever - I don't know what they are but it's a totally summer sound). The corn is taller than me and still green. The fields of beans are like deep, deep lush green carpets that seem to stretch so far with a lonely stalk of corn shooting up every now and then. You know that, even though September will have it's hot days, summer is almost over. It usually makes me anxious that fall and winter are not too far away. But this year I'm counting the days... it can't go fast enough.... we can't see Justin 'til it's nearly over. Come on fall!! Hurry!!
Pretty soon we can take down our map of a foreign land. We can change our extra kitchen clock back to Central time instead of "Justin time." We can stop checking the MNF news realeases to see if anything happened as we slept. We'll be able to call him when we want instead of waiting and hoping to hear from him. We'll be able to SEE him and HUG him and I just can't wait!!!!! What a sight it will be to see him and his wife and kids all together again.... And he can take his car home. After our walk we drove his car just to get it moving a bit. We needed a destination and Dairy Queen was convenient. One Peanut Buster Parfait later and I need to walk a whole lot more.

I made it!

I reached my first walking goal. I made it to Dairy Queen. And, yes, I bought a Blizzard, an M&M Blizzard. I burned off 300 calories walking and the Blizzard was 670 calories. It lasted just about half a mile. I think next time I'll get a Dilly Bar - "only" 240 calories - then I'll at least not be in the negative on the calorie counting.

Another walk

I went for another walk today and walked a little further than yesterday. I found these wildflowers/weeds hiding in the long grass on the side of the road. Every few feet there was another bunch. . . I've always heard it's important to set goals so I have done that - the DQ! It's two miles away so that'll be perfect. Two miles there, a break, and then a two mile walk back while I enjoy my Blizzard! PERFECT! Now, you might think that the DQ would negate all the benefits of the walk, but I'm going to eat the ice cream anyway, so the walk puts me that much further ahead! I'm a bit of a wimp so I'll give myself three weeks to reach my goal. In the meantime I'll have to drive to the DQ.

Summer evening

I finally got out for a bit of exercise tonight. Lately I've been feeling too punk, or it has been too hot, or too rainy, or I've been too busy, or it's too windy, or I've had a hangnail.... but I couldn't find any excuses tonight - it seemed easier to just walk than to search too hard for any reason not to. I walked for two miles. It was a perfect evening.... a light breeze, a few thin clouds to dim the sun a bit. The clouds were such that you could see the sun's rays shining down on the town a mile in the distance - looked like a picture. On the other side I saw half a dozen deer just wandering through the field enjoying the evening. I should walk more often.