Out of the Garage

I kind of had a rough end to my workday yesterday. Completely unrelated to work, but nonetheless distracting from it. I hopped in the car completely aware of a sort of bottomed-out feeling that I just couldn't shake.

In some odd twist of humor, as I started out from the bottom floor of the garage (two levels underground), I saw a squirrel frantically skirting along the edges looking for a way out. My first instinct was to question the possibility of him being down there, and then, when I recalled that any of the three access points at "ground level" could have given him entrance, it made a little more sense. Soon after, the sympathetic animal-lover / emotional-being that I am felt both a pity and a strange camaraderie. How would he find his way out? How would I find my way out?

Not out of the garage, of course. But out of this mess. This indelicate ripping off of a bandage that had been so mindlessly placed over what is now more than a year-old wound, and yet still feels so fresh. I talked with Cliff, I talked with Mom, I prayed. But you know what did it for me? A walk outside.

Sure, yesterday called for rain but there wasn't a drop of it and a cloudy sky couldn't deter me from throwing on my tennis shoes, a pair of shorts, my "I like switchfoot." shirt, and a hoodie and stepping out into it all, once I got home. On the drive home, I thought I wanted silence - space to think. But my route took me along a residential street with mild traffic that parallels I-65 less than a yard away, separated by a thin strip of trees and a barbed-wire fence. And strangely enough, the proximity was therapeutic.

I can't tell you how liberating it felt to walk so closely to an interstate that you literally feel the wind whip off the sides of every car driving by. I walk slow, they drive fast. And the sound was enough that I didn't have to think. Every car flying by seemed to take with it a small portion of the hurt, the burden, and the confusion, at least enough that it wasn't so all-consuming any longer.

The Lord is funny, I think. And I am grateful he knows me and prompts me to do some things sometimes that don't make sense. Most of what plagued me for hours yesterday afternoon just feels, well, it feels lighter. I couldn't tell him what was on my heart, but He knew and He used that walk to pull me out of the proverbial bottom floor of the garage... thank goodness.

Run (Walk...Hike) For the Fallen

I know I've had a chance to tell some of you about this, but I don't know why I didn't think to use this is a platform, either. I guess I forget that people really read this, and don't put a lot of faith in my reach. But oh well, it's never too late.

Today, we'll be participating in the Run for the Fallen final day event, which basically involves anyone, wherever they are, running or walking one mile (or more) for a fallen soldier service members killed during both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The organization's goal is to have Americans run together, with a common purpose, across the nation. Their hope is to have everyone who goes out to contact them to let them know how far, where, and for whom you ran. They've already done a run across the nation where they placed a flag in honor of a service member at every mile along the route. It was a hot and blustery day when they came through here, but I had planned on at least doing something on the final day event.

Our plan is to run/walk/hike in honor of my cousin, Michael Glover.
We had planned to count our normal workout, plus a little more as our time. But instead, we're going out to the trails at Henry Horton this afternoon with some friends of ours and it should be a good time. It's not often that I take time out like this to remember and to honor Michael, but something like this is a great way to do so.

I would encourage you all, if you know of any service members to walk/run in honor of or if you go out for your usual run and decide you want to honor Michael with us, please feel free to do so. It would mean a great deal...

Walking is Normal

So, today I went for a walk. It was not your average walk, considering I was out running (walking?) errands, those being namely going to the bank (post-budget committee meeting) and to the grocery store. We live within a half to a full mile from every major grocer, bank, fast food restaurant, and coffee shop in the area (heck, even our church is a mile away!), so I thought I'd take advantage of a breezy, warm mid-July (yay!) morning and get some stuff done, today.

Back before it was "green" to do so and before gas was up to $4 a gallon, I remember walking, or at least biking, to so many places when I was younger. Most of the places that come to mind are libraries, 7-11's, ice cream shops, grocery stores (for candy), and TCBY. I guess in those days if I wanted to get somewhere pre-driving, those were my only options. Once I had a car, the novelty of air-conditioned convenience blinded me to the bliss of pedestrial mobility (I totally made that up). It was only when I moved to Green Hills after college that my mind was re-awakened to the idea of using something besides an automobile (perhaps my own two feet?) to get where I needed to go. So much was within reach, I just had to walk (and I was a poor grad student). Novel idea, really.

Today was perfect. Well, despite the fact that I had to walk in the opposite direction about a half mile to go to the non-Publix U.S. Bank and then in the other direction to actually go to Publix. (Remember that one? ...whatever, it's the principle of the matter.) Here I was with my little reusable canvas grocery totes walking around Franklin and absolutely loving every second of it. (Okay, except for the part where the dump trucks drove by and conveniently exhaled a great deal of mess that I subsequently inhaled.)

When I left Publix with two full bags under both my arms, I must have looked a sight. I purposely made our list small considering the week is nearly over and we'll be at the lake for the Fourth, so the bags weren't awful. I made it halfway home when a very kind woman pulled up to me in her car and asked if I needed a ride somewhere. I was rather taken aback by the gesture, and when I said "no, thanks!" with as much cheer as possible, she prodded further. She said "it'd be no trouble - I'd love to help you out" and I told her it wasn't "a bother for me to walk on such a beautiful day" and she gave me a look of sympathy and drove off. I guess it hadn't occurred to her that I had walked to the grocery store by choice?

Before making it home, I dropped off a bill at the post office and thought about how happy I was to be walking. Whether it seemed crazy or not (why should it?), walking is absolutely normal. I mean, there are countries all over the world where walking is the norm and to do something as simple as getting food for the week involves working for it. And not just the working to make the money to buy it, but the effort that goes into getting it. In fact, the norm probably involves a much larger distance than I had to go today. I have it easy.

It reminds me of the whole "God gave you two legs, so use them" adage. Of course, that's typically used when you ask someone to do something for you when you could just do it yourself. But I think it rings true in these circumstances as well, that if I can, I should, at least as often as I can. It gives me perspective, saves money, gets me outside and active, and ends up helping the environment in the long run. What's not to love?

Walking Anew

I love walking. I'm not even kidding. I have taken a walk everyday this week and have rediscovered what a joy it can be to walk - just walk. I mean, after getting a bike for my birthday last year, and getting into the running groove last year and trying to maintain that with working it out on the elliptical machine, I had all but hung walking up in the back of my "exercise closet" for a time, maybe in my late forties, when it might become acceptable or at least a more common form of physical fitness for individuals my age. Sure, on a few walks this week I've made it up to a trotting pace to try and push myself and get the heartrate going even more than it was already, but for the most part I have been relishing in simply walking like catching up with a once-loved and long-forgotten friend.

There's something stabilizing about putting your own feet on the ground to get where you need to be, whether that's literally or figuratively, and actually being aware of what's around you while you do it. I think we depend so much on the faster things in life, like cars and bikes and running and (insert any means of "express" convenience for Americans today, and I don't mean just transportation) because really it gets us where we want to go... well... faster (thank you, captain obvious). I know that if I spent the forty-five minutes that I spent walking everyday this week running or biking, instead, I would have burnt more calories and probably would have been a little closer to my goal. But the thing is, I have the time to take a walk every once in awhile, to slow it down and to really take in the most basic and simplistic parts of walking.

I depend as much, sometimes, on the cars and bikes and running to get me where I need to go as the next person - I'm just glad to be reminded occasionally that walking is not as akin to crawling as it seems. And that goes for a whole lot more than getting some exercise every once in again. I think it parallels closely with what I experience in my spiritual life, in my relationships, and in my pursuit of living wholly from day to day. It's a challenge, even more so of a challenge than pushing yourself faster, I think, to take a proverbial walk and to keep moving forward but to not just whiz through looking for a quick result.

Walking makes a Friday morning breakfast with a dear friend that much more enjoyable, knowing that on any other week previous to this one it would have been very natural for me to hop in the car and drive the mile over to Noshville to have breakfast and then hop right back in for the mile back. But instead, I had time to walk hard for awhile before getting there, building in my exercise for the day with an aimless jaunt around Green Hills and then sort of lost myself for a good fifteen minutes during a very reflective stroll home.

How rewarding! And what a blessing it is to be able to walk.

(Now if only Cool Springs wasn't so far away, I'd enjoy an afternoon walk to visit with the Mr. for lunch instead of depending on the automobile like I must... Oh well!)