Let’s Go For A Walk
I believe walking clears the brain and lets us hear the Universe, to listen to nature. When I walk mindfully, I can clear the clamoring voices in my head and listen to the world around me. On my daily walk, when I am able to quiet my scripting mind, I am present to the silent communication of nature. And, being a retired teacher of differently-abled students,many of whom were non-verbal, I recognize the very real communication that exists without words. I don’t conjure the words, they are intuitive, perceptive. Walking opens new possibilities.
“Look at me!” A newly meticulously painted Victorian multi-colored porch with detailed lines and outlined windows call to me. “Look how precise the lines are! Can you do this with that railing you painted kinda sloppy? Look at us. You can do better!”
“Look at me,” the leaves say. “It’s a cold winter day and the some of us leaves are brown, crinkling and still suspended from the branches. I’m waiting to be liberated from this hanging life, ready to fly! What’s keeping me stuck?”
His fellow leaves respond, “I don’t know. Maybe we are like humans, waiting for the next gust of fresh air to begin a new cycle of spirit. Godspeed, my friend!”
Our home is a refuge for an abundance of plants, all of them are also rescues. “Hey there! I blew off my mother plant. Somebody is going to step on me. Pick me up, I’ll root for you!” cried the severed, fallen red and green coleus stem.
Porch gardens often communicate to passers-by, but if you are too busy thinking, they remain unnoticed. “Hi, stranger, I’m a Wandering Jew. I got knocked off by a person in a hurry. Can I come home with you? I like to make purple and green leaf babies. Are you game?”
As I walk down a steep hill, my eyes catch a small black ball of fur. “Help me. I can’t even see,” the ball of fur communicates non-verbally. “I was rolled down the hill, I think. I don’t know where I am. I’m hungry and cold.”I reached down and cradled the tiny kitten. That’s how Luna entered our home. My daughter named her Luna, after Sailor Moon’s talking black cat.
The squirrels play in front of my eyes. “Neah, neah, neah, neah. You caann’t catch me. I’m hot! “ They jump and climb and play, teasing, daring cars to hit them. I watch. I keep walking. They squirrels are not deterred. I’m not a vehicle. “Hey, bro! She’s just a walker. I bet you can’t make her move faster!”
“OMG! Do you hear my beautiful sounds?! I’m the windchime on the corner you usually ignore because the wind has not activated my melody! Pay attention to the sounds! Listen, for goodness sake! Don’t just walk and look! Listen!” the windchime reminds me . “I was hung in memory of a son from this home who took his own life. You know that family. It makes me sad. But remember their son. He went duck hunting after he was released from local prison for a minor infraction. He was not aware going duck hunting with his family using a gun was violating his parole and cause for re-imprisonment. When he was sent to be re-incarcinated, he ended his life on Halloween Eve. His mom put up a windchime in his memory. The wind continues to recall his existence, so you will, too.”
When I walk mindfully, i sometimes like to take photos with my phone. "I am the sky! I am breath- taking! Take my picture! Everyday my clouds are painted, flowing and blowing differently. Sometimes they are white, fluffy, and playful. Other days, my mood changes, just like human dispositions are not the same every moment of every day. Some days, I'm gray, almost scary. Pay attention! Maybe you can decipher clues!"
While walking on a visit, we noticed my cousin’s car hood was open. He had tried to start the car and something was wrong. Upon popping the hood, we saw a black fuzzy, bleeding object stuck in the engine. “Mom, we need to help that poor kitty.” That we did. My daughter named the kitten Isis, meaning possessing great magical power.
“You dumbass daffodil!” the potted pansy accuses the hyacinths and daffodils beginning to show signs of emerging from the nearly frozen ground. “It’s 34 degrees out here. Don’t you have the good sense to stay warmer under the ground for another 60 days. It’s almost spring. Don’t be so sprout-happy.”
I walk with my son along a creek. Without speaking a word, Chris breaks into a sprint to accost a man forcing a cat into a bag, swinging it toward the water. The man drops the bag.
“Mom, we have to keep Simba. He looks like a baby lion. Like the Lion King!” We walk back home to introduce him to our two other foundlings.
We live in an old city. Some sidewalks are brick, some concrete. Some are newly replaced, some raised and broken. You need to pay attention when you are walking. I look at the seemingly unprovoked crack patterns in a concrete slab. “No trees have done this!” the pavement informs me. “It was an inconsiderate delivery truck. It drove right up here and cracked the heck out of me!”
The sun is shining on this chilly January day, and it’s not too windy. Lawns are not green at this part of the winter. “Ha!Ha! Fooled you!” A small front-yard garden is vibrantly verdant. “Ha! Ha! I’m Astroturf! And this little gnome companion of mine encourages curious passers-by to take a second look. We totally enjoy this charade. Maybe some fake flowers will emerge when it gets a little warmer to make people wonder: is this real?”
I continue my 10,000 steps a day journey. Sometimes, the Universe sends messages after only a few steps.
“Mom! Mom!” I heard the cry on the morning after Christmas, after walking only a few steps down our walkway. My thought was, “What mean parent would put their kid outside to play on a bleak, frigid winter morning at 7AM? The day after Christmas, no less!” I looked around and saw no children. “Mom!” I heard the call again. For some reason, I looked up, only to see a large, bright green parrot in the tree next to our house. Ian and Jim donned sturdy work gloves to bring in the terrified bird. “Mom!” he repeated and comfortably moved in. We named him Bruce,a name meaning “strong warrior from the willows.” He did not communicate fully, but he would have told us, “There was a fire at the little zoo six miles from here. I escaped. I knew if I came here and called you, I would find warmth and food. My bracelet has no real identification, it only says, ‘I luv you’”.
As I walk, I look up into the clouds. I see a line of birds, maybe geese. “Look how we fly in such a straight line! Aren’t you impressed. We can put the Space Force, Thunderbirds, and the Blue Angels to shame! The lines you walk on the dirt of the earth are nowhere nearly as straight as those we fly in the sky! Do you know where we’re going? Hah! It looks like we have a plan! But we’ll never tell. We are flying in this group. We trust the leader? When there’s a whole big group of us, did you know it’s called a ‘muration’? Hundreds, maybe thousands flying together in an ever-changing pattern that never ceases to amaze you humans. We just keep going. Maybe you earthlings do the same. I guess we have to trust you, too.”
“Let’s go for a walk!” My 10,000 step daily mission always prompts me. I lace up my sustainably-made from ocean-pulled-plastic sneakers and go. After walking only a few blocks, I am aware of some definite visual communication.
“Hey, look at us!”I glanced down at the orange Home Depot bucket sitting on the curb two days before garbage day. “Hey, you! Lady, can you hear us? Can you see us? Slow down! Look at this water-filled bucket. Look in the yard next to us. There used to be a little garden pond here. Remember? You walk by here almost every day! Please! You gotta remember!”
I stopped and looked into the bucket. There were at least 5 Koi crammed into the pail. “Get your kid’s little wagon and pull us somewhere other than a garbage dump! Please!”
I knew the business owner at the bottom of the hill had a small pond. The fish family were welcomed and delivered to their new home. So the Koi lived happily ever after. And reproduced more loving fish, also inviting mosquito eating frogs to join them.
“Let’s go for a walk!” You’ll never know what you can find. Pennies, quarters, acorns, leaves, and surprises. And that brings a whole new purpose to those 10,000 steps ( Aside from just toning your body, burning calories, breathing in sunshine, and enjoying the Universe!)
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2 comments
This was beautiful, Janis! Thanks so much for the reminder to slow down and savor the world more often. I appreciated the saving all of the creatures in distress; those were my favorite parts. Good luck in the contest this week, and I see this is your first post here, so welcome to Reedsy! :)
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Thanks for your kind words! All that I said was true! Those animals were all part of our lives. And the parrot will be here longer than I will! Thanks again
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