A pond shot with my really cheap camera phone-just the idea more than a finished work

I can come up with every reason why I don’t walk, first of all it is so much of a minor exercise for my age and supposed condition-I should be working out and running-not true but it helps to excuse myself from walking. If I had a mountain or somewhere beautiful nearby, I would walk everyday-another excuse although partly true, I think if I were to live in the mountains or by the ocean the privilege to be able to explore would be hard to avoid and every time I have visited the desert I have not missed a chance to walk. I think one major issue that does keep me is the fact that you are out there, it almost feels strange to be walking alone without a steel cage to protect you from the dogs, thugs or anything else that seems to be threatening our city streets these days, there is no quick escape and no backing out once you are a mile away from your house.

I made the unfortunate mistake of getting my dog involved yesterday-the first day of my journey into getting in shape and losing weight. I think if I am on the lower level of being in shape, he is even lower on the path of getting fit. I was a mile away from my house and suddenly the dog started showing signs that it was too much, we were walking slowly but it wasn’t the pace it was the distance. He came home to a state of being warn out and I realize we will both have to work a bit slower to achieve our goals, he looked at me with disgust as I walked out the door and if he could talk I know he would have said, I got this, I can keep up. I chose to be safe and out I went alone-again it seems odd, at least with a dog you have someone that is keeping you company, without him it was just me and my thoughts-good news, bad news.

All morning I have had this urge to write or do something. My painting series is well on its way but I feel like I am stumbling a bit on some of the details. I have not had that creative shift where I get lost in the color and process. I tried writing and although a small amount of my horror stories trickled out and a bit of commentary on today’s politics, the flow came to an abrupt stop and I was off on my walk.

The first thing I noticed was how blue the sky is, it’s late September and autumn feels like it is near, that alone excites me. I walked by a small pond near my house and was happy to see a swarm of dragonflies, what is it about dragonflies that is so intriguing?  They are like fighter pilots much like swallows in the avian world. Their colors were amazing blues and greens that I could barely catch on canvas and their grace was just amazing. I saw various sizes and several different shades of blues and greens, I would have stopped and watched them but it was time to walk and I was eager to keep my promise to myself.

An amazing thing in the suburbs is that it is like a ghost town. I saw one family outside and a few pedestrians but other than this no one walking dogs or jogging-perhaps I was a bit late as most of that probably happens in the morning. I wound up near the lake and although I am positive chiggers will soon make themselves known it was a beautiful walk. Again dragonflies swarmed me along with question mark butterflies and the occasional sulphur. It felt more like spring with the buzzing of insects and the singing of birds. As I walked along the edge of the lake I could see turtles floating up to the surface and disappearing into the green as I approached. A huge egret flapped its wings and disappeared across the now pale blue sky. I saw a mother duck with her babies and as I approached the edge of the rocky jetty a great blue heron croaked as if I had annoyed it with my disturbance.

It is amazing how clear things become, there is nothing but you and the landscape around you, even if the landscape has  a bit more concrete than you would prefer nature does persist and while I am trying to get back in shape my creative side enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded in a semblance of nature. I will go further and further and who knows what I will find while my waist line shrinks so does my apprehension to the act of walking. I have photographed and added a study of dragonflies to my painting list and am excited for the possibilities of my next walk. I still miss the oceans and the mountains but by the time I get to see them I will be able to walk further and climb higher so it’s all good I guess. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoyed the walk as much as I did.

Painting from a previous walk with my son-same place near Lake Ray Hubbard