12 in 94

WALKING SOLO

Today, I had what looked to be a day, that I could squeeze in a training walk. Since I woke up to sunny skies, I imagined the day would be warm, and the walk warmer. So I dressed accordingly, in my dry wicking shirt and capri pants, filled my sports bottles with water and Orange G-2. I made sure I had Sharkies and a Kashi trailbar, advil and my little blue phone. I put on my sunscreen, donned my hat, laced up my trusty walking shoes and headed out to the office on foot.



I was determined not to run to the office, but walk at a leisurely pace. I wanted to take my time and see what was to be seen. But somehow, when my feet hit the pavement, I walked off to a quick tune in my head, Phil Collins' "Sussudio". Luckily my quick gait, was slowed to a stop when I ran into two people. First I ran into Julie Wheelan with her new dog Duma. It was my first chance to say hello to this darling black and white puppy, who was quite well behaved as I greeted her. Julie, was particularily responsible for my idea of writing this blog. She is a great writer and wrote a blog while she underwent her cancer treatment, for colon cancer. Julie is a miracle girl in the genuine sense and a true inspiration to many. I love seeing her bright smile, healthy glow, GO JULIE!!!



Moments later we ran into Robert Conroy, who stopped me in his truck. Robert is a contractor and he had just signed up a new client in the neighborhood.



So after leaving Marinview, my walk had taken on the quality of stopping and talking before walking along. Along Coyote Creek, I saw an elderly fellow, dressed in a naturalist style vest, sporting a beard while walking his little long haired Jack Russel. He looked like a short John Muir with a love of small dogs. Normally I might have just nodded and walked by. But this morning I called out "How are you two doing today?" He brightened up immediately and asked "Have you seen the otters?"



"No," I answered. "Where did you see them?" He went on to explain last week they were up the creek further but today he saw them closer to the Dipsea on the creek. He said you can find them by looking for bubbles as they swim underwater. "They love to play in the reeds," he explained.



I thanked him and walked on with my eyes open and my mind not quite convinced our little creek could have any otters, and low and behold, there was a stream of bubbles making a circle in the water. Plunk, I heard as something plopped itself into the reeds. I walked down closer to the water and watched this dance for a few minutes, until, finally the otter surfaced in the middle of the creek. He immediately looked my direction with a bit of curiosity. He was grey and had a long tail and looked very sleek as he swam in a wide circle. I tried to snap a picture, but I am afraid the camera on my phone wasn't quite up to the task. Trust me, that thing you see in the water...that's an otter.



The rest of the walk I tried to keep up a steady pace, since I had an 11:20 appointment at the eye doctor. I saw egrets and the normal runners and bikers as I made my way through Mill Valley, over the hill to Corte Madera and into Lens Crafters exactly on time.



The exam showed my eyes are getting older, and my sight is getting worse with age. But if you ask me, my eyes have a new life in the last few months. They have seen things in Marin, that I never would have seen in my 30s. They have noticed things that I had simply driven by in the past. For heaven's sake, I saw an otter this morning. It will simply be better to see them in focus!



I worked a bit at the office and headed back home around 2:30. Before I left I looked on weather.com for the temperature...94 degrees. Yep, it was as hot as I was feeling it was. So the return I took a little bit at a time, stopping in to see my friend Patty at Featherbed and Bath and then, picking up new sunglasses. I took the time to stretch in the shade, do business on my phone, and slowly made my way to Mill Valley. Glenn called as he was returning from SF and lucky me, he gave me a ride up our BIG hill to our home.



Today's lesson, is open your eyes, say hello, you may not even believe what wonders you will discover.



FOUR weeks until the big walk. Have you donated?! If you haven't open your eyes there is a link to my donation page right there to the right! Or click here.... DONATE