I walked 10,000 steps today. That’s the recommended amount of movement for people who don’t want to turn into a mushy turnip. I started with a hike in the rain. Immediately I met up with our neighbour: a bus driver and his fire chief wife and their gorgeous children. They were out walking their dog with an exotic name. I met their neighbour, let’s call her Zelda. She was walking her dog with an exotic name and a lovely red kerchief around his neck. The labs kindly sniffed my old mutt’s butt who stood stock still, blind, and a little anxious they would notice he’s ancient. The two labs figured he smelled fine and moved on. Tartuffe wagged his tail with relief and a new sense of canine community.
I usually take the lower prong of the folk at the end of Eaglecliff, today I took, yes, I took the high road. Zelda pointed out her cabin to me. It was adorable and modest with a grand ocean view. She explained to me her journey here. A beautiful petite artist, all wind swept and white haired with kind lively periwinkle eyes. We talked about the simple life. We talked about downsizing for happiness. We talked about what really matters, end of the day. We talked about how many women we know who are depressed and how many men we know are impotent. We shook our heads over the rat race that a career can be and how we ourselves can get caught in the trap of taking on too much and getting anxiety simply because we are always behind and utterly – exhausted -. and are we passing this pattern onto our children? Yes. She smiled at me. But we found our way out of it. Didn’t we? At least for today we did.
I carried on, after a heart to heart with that stranger who seemed complete. There was a light rain and I walked down to gorgeous Cate’s bay and noted with delight that Finisterre island is there. A lawyer and his family own the whole island, big house. It’s joined to Bowen by a 100 meter tunnel, but it can only be accessed at low tide. High tide they have to row across. It’s quite magical. I can see this beach is going to be nice for swimming in the summer. An alternative to our usual haunt down the street. Old Tartuffe skittered and slipped on the logs. Brave old man. I carried him back to solid ground.
My Mom called and I told her I was walking in the rain, “Oh dear”, and I said, “Oh, no, it’s marvellous.” We sorted out a thing or two that needed to be sorted. Basically, I just wanted my Mom to tell me I am loved. One can be 46 and 6 all at the same time. She assured me of what I already knew. She does. And we moved on.
When I returned home I checked my pedometer and alas, I was not even halfway through my 10,000 steps even though I had been walking for an hour. So, I did some teaching online and then I pruned the garden with a wacka-wacka-wack! Alright. Checked again. Still. 3000 steps to go. I walked up and down the stairs to pet the gecko once or twice. “This will take forever”. I did some writing and laundry and then – aha. I found a Zumba lesson on youtube. I hoped to GOD there was enough tree cover so my neighbours couldn’t see me through my curtain-free windows, shimmy slap and pelvic thrust my way to 10,000. My dog looked up once in a while, deaf to the international music, unimpressed with my smooth latin moves. He farts.
I reached my goal. It felt great. I’ve had a wonderful day. A break from the sedentary. I’m kind of missing my evening glass of wine but I squeezed some honey into my hot water and lime and told myself I’d sleep better. On the road back to wellness and the simple life. One step at a time.
So lovely.