Day 42: A Mild Night

Tonight was milder than many of my previous walks - I still layered up, since I've been caught out before, but I found myself taking off my gloves, then putting them on, feeling warm, feeling cold...the night was a bit confused in terms of temperature.  I didn't go out till five, so it was pitch black outside.  It was strange passing many of the places that I had stopped to take beautiful snow pictures only a month ago.  The little hidden entryway to a sparkling winter wonderland was now just a dark space between two bushes, with wet and sodden leaves underfoot.  The lamppost that shone like it was the entrance to Narnia still shone, but with none of the Christmassy snow that made me feel like Mr Tumnus was about to come round the corner. The hotel where I stood entranced looking at the red berries frosted with ice was now just a dark building with a big tree in front of it.

But there were new beauties, too.  The trees lining the park are still shining with millions of little white lights, so that it looks like ghostly branches are reaching out into the night, no tree trunk evident in the darkness.  The train trundled past, lights shining out of every window, faces looking out and registering me as a nameless walker just as I did the same for them.

I was glad to be out walking, not moving along at a snail's pace in one of the many cars passing me, an endless stop and go halting motion in a vehicle that promises great speed and movement, but at certain times of the day is simply an exercise in doing what everybody else is doing.  I liked being a little walking rebel.  Aha! That's another one! Me, the anomaly.  Walking just for the sake of walking. 

One of the other things I love about my daily walks is that there are no stringent rules.  The whole point is to get out of the house and just walk - anywhere, for any length of time.  Some days it's ten minutes, other days four hours.  There are no rollovers - I don't get credit tomorrow if I walk extra long today, and I don't have to walk for several hours today if I was a little tired yesterday.  I had decided to go for a longer walk today, maybe an hour, but I sped along so quickly that I found myself home in less than that without even realising it.  Excelsior!

Walk length:  45 minutes