“Neither snow, nor rain nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Appears on main New York City Post Office.
That became my motto often over the past months. Sometime in late spring 2022, my Fitbit alerted me that I was on an “over 10,000” steps a day walking streak. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Then sometime later it told me that I was on a 95-day streak. The days were warmer and on a really hot day mid-summer I decided it was too hot to walk in the NH hills. When I told my 8-year-old granddaughter that I was not going to walk that day, she said “Gramma, keep up the streak – you can do it.” That was a challenge I couldn’t refuse. I walked that day and didn’t stop again until recently. I had planned to break the streak after a full year but, like Forrest Gump, I just kept walking. Last week I spent the day kayaking and decided it was time to intentionally break the streak and begin a new exercise regimen that included some walking but not necessarily hours of it.
What was unique about my walking for me was that I don’t have a treadmill and every day included a lengthy outdoor walk. There were days when it was pouring, days of snow and sleet, days of heat and humidity and then there was the record breaking arctic chill of February 4, 2023. It is hard to remember that feeling amidst the heat and humidity of this summer. That was the day that I really questioned my sanity and my safety. I didn’t last too long outdoors but was outdoors long enough to understand why the newspapers and tv stations were putting out dire warnings for people to stay inside if possible.
My walks were primarily in New England including Cambridge, Needham, Holderness NH, and Lenox MA. There were some days in Los Angeles and even a few in Pelham, New York and New York City. There was a day or two in New Orleans and a few other random spots where I found myself. Most of the time I went unnoticed but there was one night I was worried that my son’s neighbor would call the police about a crazed older woman walking up and down the street in the dark close to midnight. Most days I was able to accomplish my goals (and more) earlier in the day but occasionally life interfered with walking and there were some late-night steps outdoors and occasionally indoors doing circles around the interior of my home.
Walking gave me time and space to think. I never quite knew where my thoughts would take me but they always took me somewhere. As Henry David Thoreau said “Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” He was right.
Another gift was watching the seasons change. I never followed a particular route – always deciding at every intersection whether to go straight, turn right or turn left. However, inevitably I found myself in many places repeatedly. And yet, each time it looked different. When you drive, you don’t notice the nuances. When you walk they are right in front of you. Watching the changes was both exciting and comforting at the same time.
Walking is a very sensory experience. I used most of my senses every day. (The smells, the sights, the sounds, and the feel of the ground beneath my feet.) Occasionally I would even stop and indulge my taste buds with either coffee, a smoothie, a cinnamon bun or some other treat.
Each day brought a. new adventure and a new awareness of my surroundings even as I walked familiar paths.
I am grateful to have been able to appreciate my world in this way and although my streak is over I will continue walking because possibly Hippocrates was right when he said “Walking is a man’s best medicine.”
A collection of images from my walks.
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