I took a walk....

I'm a freaking genius in my mind, when I'm out walking in nature. I'm a grade A writer, an entertainer, a freaking genius I tell ya.

I cranked out poems:

Whispery caked leaves
Ghostly arching trees
Their castoffs, littering the ground
Nature's wrath was here

I wrote blog post after blog post, and solved all of my problems. Yep. I did that.....but let me tell you about my walk. It was lovely....it was an adventure!

I went walking at the North Springfield Dam. During post-Irene the water was 30-40 feet up the trees around the entire basin. The trail starts out with a gentle slope down towards a very steep embankment. Next comes a very gradual increase in grade for quite a distance followed by some shorter steeper hills. EVentually you come to the airport runway. The grass is thick and lush and resembles beach walking. At the end of the runway is another down hill into the ghostly, gray, dusty, slippery woods. I walked about 33 minutes out before I turned around, lest I end up in the next town over and have to call my husband for a ride back to my car. I met some horses on the way out and warned them of the slick half-dry mud beyond, they thanked me for the heads up. I giggled whilst imagining 6 equestrians on their asses as their mounts performed involuntary splits. The giggles fueled me to push it a little bit, so I ran up the next hill. I walked a little ways, set my water down and really stretched my back (gets super tight when I'm walking) and then ran the rest of the distance of the runway and told myself I would stop when I got to the bridge. Well I guess my body didn't get the memo that we were aiming for the bridge, and she kept stopping on me. We eventually came to an understanding and ran to the bridge. I walked down the next two hills, took my time....then ran the next straightaway and up the really steep embankment. I plodded (yeah, that's a good word) the rest of the way out. I was tired and red faced when I got back to my car....where I stood/sat in the parking lot and stretched my quadriceps, hamstrings and calves.
I did some praying out there, if you can call it that. I talked to the divine in my head...mostly thanking him/her for the ability to be able to enjoy such quiet, beautiful natural places. I didn't spend anytime thinking about the things I want and don't have...I heard a song on VPR on the way home (something celtic I think) about not wishing for the things that you think you need. Things have been pretty tough for us lately...we can't always pay everything on time, but we do pay the bills and we do eat, and I do get to tie up last years running shoes and just get out there and soak up some sun and fresh air, crinkling leaves, and a few mosquitos too. I love my life.