I Often Go Walking

I walk a lot.

For those of you much older than me: remember being a college student and having no money. You work your can off at a minimum wage job and really don't have much cash to burn.

For those of you much younger than me: this is gonna be you one day.

First of all, I want to say a couple things.

~I am a penny pincher.

~I am very stingy.

~I am a debt-aphobe (and a word inventer apparently).

~I am careful with my money and am very grateful for my minimum wage job.

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT MONEY!! I'm just illustrating the setting for y'all.

I have a motor scooter. Not a little put-put mind you. A big Daddy, awesome motor scooter. It is not working, and hasn't been functioning properly since March. I have tried repeatedly to contact the 1 mechanics shop in town and have come to find out that they are not equipped to handle my scooter. So...I walk everywhere. I walk 5 miles every day that I work (2.5 miles each way). I walk to the grocery store. I walk to my friend's apartments. I walk anywhere I need to go! 

My walking time is my happy time. It's a few minutes to myself during this busy thing called life. I don't listen to music, but I do sometimes read. Mostly though, I observe the world around me. 

I watch the cars go by, imagining all the exciting places the drivers must be going. 

I think about the old couple that likely lives in the house with the perfect flower beds and wicker chairs on the front porch. 

I think of the rowdy family that likely lives in the house with the lawn toys strewn on the lawn and the giant family picture I can see through the open window. 

I imagine what new small town story the old man is reading in his news paper while he drinks his morning coffee on the porch steps.

I watch the rabbits hopping from yard to yard.

I listen to the birds chattering in the trees: the cackle of the Raven, the twittering or the Sparrows, the coo of the dove.

I watch the squirrels play a game of tag up a tree trunk.

But my favorite moments of all, are during the last leg of my walk after a long day of work. There's a park near my apartment (about a block away). By this time in the day, my feet are usually protesting (2.5 mile walk + 7-8 hours on my feet + the return 2.5 mile trip), but I can't help but enjoy the scenes that unfold in front of my eyes. I have to take mental pictures and just smile.

Tonight I saw:

A foot ball game.

A Frisbee game.

A new dad pushing his toddler on the swing while mom sat nearby.

A puppy play date (I'm not kidding, 3 puppies of various sizes romping around through the grass).

A newlywed couple playing catch with a baseball.

A game of Quidditch (it was awesome).

A marshmallow gun/silly string tournament.

A couple sitting across from eachother, playing slap jack and smiling ear to ear.

A group of teenagers playing cards at another table.

A couple guys slack lining.

Two teenage boys long boarding.

A group of very pregnant women walking together, talking about baby things (I watching women become moms).

A dapper gentlemen reading a vintage hardback on a park bench.

A group of joggers, dance-running to some awesome song.

A father teaching his son to throw a football to his mom.

And that was just tonight. People bring me joy. The quiet lives of every day folk make me smile. It's the simple things I tell yuh!! I love it. I love seeing happiness and simple pleasures. Life is beautiful. There is so much good in this world. We need only open our eyes and go walking.