Just to Walk

I had a very brief encounter with the Swamp Rabbit Trail last fall in between my two knee replacements. It was enough to walk a half mile with my cane and my husband, stopping frequently to rest.

But, last Sunday I had my first real walk - less than a mile total, no cane, no husband, no friend to be there just in case. In less than a quarter mile I was celebrating the solitude. It was my time to think about what I wanted to and some of the things I always have in the back of my mind at home never appeared at all. I found it far more gratifying to flirt with the risk that I might go slightly too far before I turned around to worry that I might not be able to get back to the car.

I realized quickly that the answer is not to turn around, to arrange for George to drop me off and pick me up at some new intersection, compelling myself to walk an unknown path, until I manage to experience the trail in its entirety through short segments, the goal just to walk, to keep one foot stepping in front of the other.