Walking Towards the Future
Most days, Ado goes to doggy daycare -- my husband's place -- for the afternoon. While I don't enjoy the moments my husband arrives to pick him up and drop him off, I believe Ado enjoys the time spent in the yard where he can run. And it's obvious he adores my husband, so I'm not going to get in the way. But I do miss him when he's gone.
I'm so used to having him with me when I go for a walk that to walk alone feels very foreign. A large part of why I walk and what gives me pleasure when I walk is missing. Today I tried to find things to take pleasure in while walking alone. First was the tree at the bottom of Jersey Hill that someone had decorated with a few Christmas ornaments made from pine cones and red berries. A wreath had been set against the trunk, beside a plaque with the name of the person for whom the tree had been planted. Second was the sound of the water flowing over the rocks in the creek beside the path. Third was a rabbit huddled under a piece of weathered cardboard. I usually don't carry my phone with me, but this afternoon I did, which allowed me the opportunity to take a few photos. I love the coloring of its fur. I'm sure if Ado had been with me, I'd not been able to take the photos. One day, I hope to get a photo of the black squirrel I see along the path at times. Most of the squirrels are red. I've seen a few red squirrels with white tails, and quite a while back, I saw the black squirrel.
Last night on our drive home from seeing my dad (Lovely Beautiful Daughter and Funny Delightful Son and I went over for the afternoon; Angel Baby had to work, so he missed out on the fun), I saw a coyote standing at the edge of the road. The sun had just set. The sky tinged with red then pink and light blue at the horizon, darker blue turning to black higher up, framed the coyote. It was one of those moments you know you'd never capture with a camera.
On the way back from Dad's, Funny Delightful Son played a podcast about the Greeks, Spartans, and the Persians. At one point during the history lesson, the person presenting the information asked, "What would this world be like now if the result of this event had been different?" Though I don't know much about the Greeks, Spartans, or Persians, I've often wondered about this same idea when thinking about other events in history, even my own history. What if I had made different decisions? Where would I be? What would I be doing? What kind of person would I be? I thought a lot about this during my walk today, especially what I want to do and what kind of person I want to be.
I made a couple of my goals for 2018, the most important goals of changing my name back to my maiden name and publishing several poems. Over the next few days, I'm going to sit down and sketch out my goals for 2019. Perhaps in what I sketch I'll get closer to what I want to accomplish and what kind of person I want to be.
I'm so used to having him with me when I go for a walk that to walk alone feels very foreign. A large part of why I walk and what gives me pleasure when I walk is missing. Today I tried to find things to take pleasure in while walking alone. First was the tree at the bottom of Jersey Hill that someone had decorated with a few Christmas ornaments made from pine cones and red berries. A wreath had been set against the trunk, beside a plaque with the name of the person for whom the tree had been planted. Second was the sound of the water flowing over the rocks in the creek beside the path. Third was a rabbit huddled under a piece of weathered cardboard. I usually don't carry my phone with me, but this afternoon I did, which allowed me the opportunity to take a few photos. I love the coloring of its fur. I'm sure if Ado had been with me, I'd not been able to take the photos. One day, I hope to get a photo of the black squirrel I see along the path at times. Most of the squirrels are red. I've seen a few red squirrels with white tails, and quite a while back, I saw the black squirrel.Last night on our drive home from seeing my dad (Lovely Beautiful Daughter and Funny Delightful Son and I went over for the afternoon; Angel Baby had to work, so he missed out on the fun), I saw a coyote standing at the edge of the road. The sun had just set. The sky tinged with red then pink and light blue at the horizon, darker blue turning to black higher up, framed the coyote. It was one of those moments you know you'd never capture with a camera.
On the way back from Dad's, Funny Delightful Son played a podcast about the Greeks, Spartans, and the Persians. At one point during the history lesson, the person presenting the information asked, "What would this world be like now if the result of this event had been different?" Though I don't know much about the Greeks, Spartans, or Persians, I've often wondered about this same idea when thinking about other events in history, even my own history. What if I had made different decisions? Where would I be? What would I be doing? What kind of person would I be? I thought a lot about this during my walk today, especially what I want to do and what kind of person I want to be.
I made a couple of my goals for 2018, the most important goals of changing my name back to my maiden name and publishing several poems. Over the next few days, I'm going to sit down and sketch out my goals for 2019. Perhaps in what I sketch I'll get closer to what I want to accomplish and what kind of person I want to be.
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