Mid Autumn Walk

Hoodie. Check.

iPod. Check.

Camera. Check.

Bubblegum. Check.

Hand weights. Check.

Get the camera snug on my chest and zip up the hoodie.

There. That should do it. But I look so odd -

like I’m about ready to birth a camera.

Oh, who would care.

A few good leg stretches. Check.

Keys. Check.

When I head out for my fitness walk, I never take my camera. I listen to music and watch the birds sing, marvel at the sunrise, and admire morning dew that glistens like stardust…wishing for a photograph.

This walk wasn't all about me.

Photographing someone’s home makes me nervous. It’s entirely possible that an ill-feeling curmudgeon on pain killer meds might see me through the window blinds, become annoyed, and shoot me or something.

It’s the time of year when summer’s secrets are exposed and privacy blinds are pulled back and away within a few short weeks. Naked.

I scan trees looking for a hummingbird nest. I’ve never seen one. I’d need to climb the maples and oaks that line our neighborhood streets to confirm. Now, that mental image makes me laugh.

I love the fuzzies.

A whole field of fuzzies I found.

For me, walking is an escape. It lends an opportunity to seal myself away from intrusion. An opportunity to plan, daydream, or worry in peace. No phone - just me, my working heart, and fresh air for under an hour a day. It’s better than a long soak in a tub. Well, almost.

Try it. It’ll turn into the best habit you ever had and a hard one to break.

I turned off my iPod and listened to the morning birdsong. Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins, Northern Mockingbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Starlings, Carolina Chicadees, and House Sparrows were busy with bird business but I didn’t get a shot.

When driving to the drug store later,

purple flowers caught my eye at this intersection. The only way to see them was to pull over, park the car, and walk a stone’s throw

to adore a small field of Morning Glories, not yet zapped by a freeze. Hundreds of them, all for me.

Looks electric, doesn’t it?

At the drug store I caught glimpse of a hawk land in a low tree across the street. Being a hawk stalker is very cool and fun for me, so I tip-toed double time across a side street.

Red-shouldered flew away, out of sight, but I knew this hawk wanted to rest and have time to preen. I was sure of it and knew it was real close.

If I walked a bit down this narrow gravel path…I’d find it.

Surely, I’d be alright on foot and would ignore the sign, as usual.

Ah ha! Gotcha!

Walking is good but hawk stalking is the bomb.