walking

Walking is my best form of meditation. With the first few steps I begin to notice things and fall into the present. My favorite places to walk are natural where I can focus on trees, birds, and weather and not worry about traffic and people. I prefer to walk in silence. Then I notice the natural sounds--birds, insects, the whisper of the pine needles, the brush of dry grass.
My dog comes along and her senses come alive too--sniffing and finding where the coyotes and deer were the night before. However, at age 14 she has lost her hearing and has to rely on her sight and smell.

My dad loved to walk too. Whenever he thought we weren't moving enough or the walls closed in on him he would suggest a walk. Back then we lived in New Orleans, and so we walked along the levee on the west bank of the Mississippi River. We would travel along the levee watching the ships and barges pass by--sometimes comb the waterline looking for interesting bits of wood or flotsam and jetsom on its way to the gulf.

I always took my kids walking, even when they were toddlers, sometimes carrying them or pulling them in a wagon. Often the dogs and cats would come along. Here's a picture of a typical trip when one of the boys was still a hip hugger and the other about 3 years old.