keep walking

I just came back from a walk. It wasn't on my to-do list today, and it didn't look nice out there, raining but not pouring. But I decided it's a good time to see how much snow is left on the north side of the property and how the pond is filling up. Along the way, I snapped a few pictures, mostly of mosses and lichens. I sank in knee-deep on one side of the property and was pleased to see my rhubarb pop up in a different location.

Now I got back and feel really good (I was sick with a fever yesterday, which makes this probably feel double as great), energized and inspired. I know that going for a walk always makes me feel better, even when the weather doesn't seem as inviting, but noticing the world out there probably has just as much impact on my well-being as the fresh air, vitamin D, and physical activity do. I often take pictures on my walks, orand hatendo bring back treasures such as rocks, twigs, fungi, leand leavesNoticing the small things (although not all are pretty, some are gross but can be funny), or the unusual smell or the intensity of colours or the sound of returning geese flying by, helps me find little glimpses of joy,. I'dimagine it could really help someone who is struggling, making notes of gratitude. I don't write down what I'm grateful for, but I do often make a mental note of appreciation.

This also made me think about my walking requirement, the system ,my intent ,and how to go about it. What is going well, and where do I need to check my own attitude? My km are not where they should be but I actually didnt stress about it because my reasoning was that coming spring, summer and fall I am very active outside, either on our rather large property with animals and gardens or hiking but also with my vending. I can clock most likely enough km then. I did go for a couple of 7-8 km hikes so far and I do my 1 ish km loop more frequently but not as often as I definitely should. One thing I have been doing and feel really good about for a few years already is not taking escalators. When there are stairs, I will take them even in an airport with a lot of luggage, which sometimes makes me look ridiculous.

What I suck at, and I had planned on addressing this a few times already, (and yet I drop the ball almost every time), is parking and walking to the store. I still have the urge to pick the closest possible parking stall and even worse, when visiting two different stores that surround the same parking lot, like for example, Shoppers Drug Mart and Safeway, I will drive to both. I mean, I always have the excuse, time is of the essence, I guess, but that one annoys me because coming from Germany, this is not at all a thing there. In fact, I remarked on that when I first moved here, and I remember telling people back in Germany, how unbelievable I thought that was at the time. Anyway, this is one aspect of my walking requirement I want to adjust a bit. The other one is just going for these short walks more often. For now I,'m ok with using my km from my regular chores or obligations for my numbers, as the intent behind my gardening, farming, hiking, and vending activities aristrongly tied to my lifestyle choices.
But going for a 10-15 min walk regularly and tatakingote of what has changed from yesterday or last week, what haI haveot seen, heard, smor elled in a while w,ould be something very intentional and I'd benefit in so many ways than just my numbers.