A Journey of a Thousand Miles. Or a Thousand Pounds.

I read an article recently about finding stress relief in your comfort zone. What does that mean you may ask? The author suggested reaching back into your childhood to the things that brought you comfort and revisiting them.  This may not apply to everyone, but there usually is a thread there ~ some bread crumbs you can follow. For some people it's movies, maybe a particular genre like comedy.  Maybe it's baking for you. For others it's skiing as fast as they can down a snowy slope. Some lose themselves in books.

And yet others wander. And all who wander are not lost. Sometimes they find themselves.

Sometimes in their own backyard.

The article got me thinking ~ and I guess I'm one who finds solace and comfort in nature. I know that since I have carved out time to resume my morning walks I can't imagine not walking every morning now. So I followed the breadcrumbs. 

It may sound odd, but I don't really remember a lot of my childhood. Yes, it was that uneventful. But I did find a crumb or two and remembered that with my older siblings 11, 9 and 7 years older than I and my little sister still a baby, I spent a lot of time alone. And I do remember walking the fields of the farm and finding little secret paths; riding my bicycle on dusty gravel roads exploring. In looking back I guess it was a little lonely but at the time it was all I knew. One thing for sure ~ it sparked my imagination.

So I guess finding myself as an adult in nature is natural. And nature still inspires me. 

And this little guy seemed to want to be my guide today.

He paced from one side of the path to the other

as if he was expecting someone (me?) ~ or worried

about something (me?).  

Bless his little heart. Y

I practiced my "catching birds in flight" skills.

Or non-skills...

And not unlike a snake in the grass (which is what I thought when I heard rustling in the weeds next to me)

A very clever pheasant in the grass evaded my lens.  Crafty bugger.

 But the shot that really got away

was when I pulled my Jeep into the park entrance 

and saw this little one eating a yucca blossom.

Ack. Adorable.

But of course there was no place to pull over

and there were antsy drivers behind me.

Damn.

So I came home to my morning smoothie

Strawberries, bananas, peaches...

with a little vanilla bean yogurt...

with a little almond milk.

So now ~ to explain the whole "journey of a thousand miles or pounds" thing...

Part of it is a metaphor for the miles I started walking when I was 5 or 6 up to the mile I walked in the park this morning.

And where will the path lead in the future?

And maybe it's not a thousand pounds. It's not even a hundred pounds. But it is more poundage than I'm going public with at this point. But the weight loss path is mine once more. Yay! 

My first test was resisting the Mister's mashed potatoes last night. If I were to list my all time favorite foods pizza and mashed potatoes would pretty much be tied for #1. Thus making them the most difficult for me to resist.

But resist I did!!

And although I can't really remember the last time 

I stepped on the scale (it was within the last week)

I've lost 2 lbs. 

And find myself in a new (lower) digit.

So yay me.

And as if Mister Potato Head and his mashies last night were not torture enough ~ he goes off to a client's all day leaving me with leftover mashed potatoes taunting me in the fridge.

I will resist!  Because 2 lbs. is 2 lbs.  And every journey starts with that one little step. 

Go. For. A. Walk. That's All. Period.

So this is what happens when I have a grrrrreat idea for a blog post and I don't sit down that minute and write.

I kind of forget my point. And I had a really good point! Dammit.

It had something to do with getting back to my routine of walking every morning in the park ~ of rising very early, grabbing my water bottle and a camera - any camera - and hitting the trail.  I'm happy about this because being in nature is good for my head, good for my soul and any physical benefits are a bonus.

So although the skies were threatening yesterday (and it did pour later) I strolled down familiar paths with my little pink Nikon Coolpix - you know - the one I wanted so badly because it was pink. And I use it about once a year.  

There were clouds in the water as well as the sky. 

Part of my reason for resuming these morning walks is that I quite often clear my head and/or get ideas when I'm in nature. And I wouldn't mind losing a couple of lbs. so previously I have been obsessed with how many miles I've walked and what my time is. Get that cardio up! So those two things (which when you think about it are a total dichotomy) are usually my intent when setting out. But intent can sometimes backfire.

Because I find I can't concentrate. Because I'm distracted by a pelican.

Or a squirrel.  SQUIRREL!!

And I have to stop to get just the right angle 

to make some nice bokeh behind those pink flowers. 

Wait - how do I turn the macro setting on on this thing again?

And I start slowing down because I'm framing things in my head and then - hey - wouldn't that look cool framed like this.

And then I remembered something I read recently.

The purpose of fishing is not to catch fish.

So...

I told myself.  Just stop. Stop trying to control something as simple as a walk in the park. (No pun intended. Or maybe it is...) Maybe the purpose of a walk in nature isn't to solve the problems of the world - or your little life. Maybe the purpose of a walk in nature isn't to see how fast you can do it.  I've climbed mountains in my life.  I'm done with that. Maybe the purpose of a walk in nature isn't to get the *best* photograph of a bird. 

(Full disclosure - I took this pic and the two following

today with my Canon; not the pink Nikon.)

Maybe the purpose of a walk in nature is to just fricking walk in nature.  Don't count my steps; don't plan my new business model ~ just be in the moment and Go. For. A. Walk.

And don't even think about what is around the next bend.