Taking a walk was the last thing I felt like doing today, but I needed the exercise. I needed to do it for both my mental and my physical states. I hate being overweight. It makes me feel bad. Worse yet, it makes my knees ache and it saps my energy.
But it’s not just about me anymore. When I got married and had children, I stopped being just an individual. I became part of a new family, and now I’m responsible to the other members of the family. If I’m tired or sick, my family suffers, so I must get into better shape not just for my own good, but for theirs, too.
So I forced myself to take a walk by planning a trip to the library. My favorite walking path loops through the woods that surround the library. I usually start my walk in the same place and going the same direction, but today I decided to change things up by starting in a different spot and going the opposite direction.
Perhaps it was the slightly different angle of view that allowed me to notice a few new things on the path. As I’ve mentioned before, there is a lot of poison ivy growing in that patch of woods. There are thick, hairy poison ivy vines twining up many of the trees along the path. Poison ivy spreads very easily in the environment that we (mankind) have created for it. A massive poison ivy infestation creates a launch pad for invasions in other places, because the birds eat the berries and then spread them hither and yon. Well, my my husband will be thrilled to know that someone finally took a hatchet to some of the vines. So thanks, Hatchet Wielder! You’ve done us all a great service.
I also found some pussy willows. How I love them! In all the years I’ve been walking on this path, I never noticed them before. I would love to pick a bunch, but taking them from such a public area wouldn’t exactly be nice. I think instead that I’ll start searching for pussy willows in the woods behind my house. Marshy areas abound, so there must be some pussy willows somewhere out there. And now that I know it’s the right time of year for them, I may be able to spot them more easily.
It was a good walk. I’m glad I forced myself to go, and equally glad that I forced myself to write about it as soon as I got home. That’s how this post got done even though it was a busy day. I guess that’s how most important things get done: first you make the time and then you will yourself to action.