Slowing down...

I made a pact that I would walk and bike more after my courses ended in July. So this week I've started to walk and bike to work every day. Since I live less than a mile away from work this is not a big issue. There is also a great trail along a cove off the Meduxnekeag that is maintained by the town of Woodstock that takes me right to the college- how many people in Toronto can say that?

The first morning I noticed a bit of the calm water and a couple of trees along the way. It took me about three walks to slow my pace and my thoughts down enough to notice more. This morning I noticed what flowers were blooming, watched a tern fly across the water, admire the tenacity of some wildflowers growing through cracked pavement and picked a bouquet for a family of a sick child at the college. I noticed that there is beauty even in the flower of a burdock-ever seen the flower of a burdock? There were native flowers blooming along with the non-natives- Scottish creeping bellflowers and yellow loosestrife along with the not-so-liked purple loosestrife- signs of a perennial garden from long ago. This, by the way is the biggest trembling aspen I have ever seen in this area- it has a huge trunk- 2 grown men couldn't wrap their arms around it.....

Maybe more of the world could stand a walk like this every morning...and everyone would be happier and healthier.