Walking around my 'hood

This afternoon, in an effort to 1) get some sunshine and fresh air and 2) not allow 2 weeks of absence from the gym coupled with it being Girl Scout Cookie time to undo 10 months hard work, I went for a walk around my neighborhood. This is something I rarely do; it's not that I live in a bad neighborhood, it's just that I have a mean case of car ass. In fact, I would say that my weight problem began at precisely the same time that I got my first car.

It was absolutely beautiful out today, about 50 degrees and sunny. Although I have been lamenting the lack of snow this winter, I was glad for the early-spring-like weather. No gloves or hat necessary (thanks, global warming!)

My mind has been a jumbled mess of late, and it was refreshing to give my brain (not to mention my eyes) something else on which to focus my attention. For the first few minutes I just paid attention to the feel of my sneakers hitting the pavement, the cool air on my cheeks, and the sounds of outside. I walked past the Burger King and smelled the burgers grilling, which always reminds me of summer.

I turned onto the "Ave" and continued to walk past the cemetery and towards the park. My mind wandered back to my high school days when I used to walk absolutely everywhere, and cover huge distances -- my best friend lived almost 4 miles away, and we walked it many times. I had one boyfriend who I used to walk all over the place with, both in our neighborhoods and downtown Philly, and we would try to get lost on purpose just so we could try and find our way back. My only problem was my finely tuned internal compass that made getting lost extremely difficult!

I took a different route back towards my house and noticed some interesting backyards. One thing about Philly backyards -- they are so small, they're almost impossible to see with the naked eye. I kid, but really, what we have doesn't even really qualify as a backyard. Really, it's just a driveway with a patch of grass next to it measuring maybe 3x6 feet. In case you ever wondered why I garden in containers, there's your answer! But -- I walked past a few houses that had really interesting gardens (or, you could tell, even in their winter hibernation state, that they had been interesting!), and I got some new ideas for what to do with my veggies this year.

When I reached my front steps, my heart was beating fast and I was tired and out of breath -- ah yes, I remember this feeling! (Gosh, I miss the gym!) It felt really good to get out after a week of being cooped up and thinking the same thoughts over and over. I feel like I would like to get out and take walks more often, but I'm not going to make it a goal or anything -- if it happens, it happens. But it will definitely happen at least once or twice more until I have the green light to get back to my regular workout routine.

And I can't wait for spring...