I Am A Voyeur - Looking For The Light

Two weeks ago Jay and I embarked on a weight management plan.  In an effort to out-run death we are trying to build a healthier lifestyle.  It does not mean giving up the essential of life...like pasta or wine. But it does mean honoring our bodies that have carried us so well for so many years. One aspect of this effort is to make time to move the body...to exercise in various forms.  So, when I had a free half hour between classes last week, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood that surrounds the Franklin Center, where we hold our Omnilore classes.

I have always enjoyed walking.  Some of my best ideas have come while putting one foot in front of the other.  It is also a time when I work out problems or have imaginary conversations in my head.  But that is often the downside of my walking...I am often just "in my head" and when I return I have no memories of what I have seen.

Maybe it was because I am in the middle of a very soul-touching memoir, "The Journal Keeper" where the author, Phyllis Theroux, comments about not using her journal as a wailing wall, immortalizing the darkness, but as a place in which to collect the light...but I felt very "awake" as I set out on this walk...anticipating seeing the light.

And I found it, in a very delightful neighborhood park.  When I came to Franklin Park, winding sidewalks invited me to meander through it and I was pleasantly surprised by the life and light that was contained in this little public space.

First I heard some guitar strings being plucked and found myself in front of a couple who were both holding stringed instruments. One seemed to be instructing the other, but they both paused to say hello before putting their heads together again to proceed with the music.  What a wonderful setting for their activity

Then a little "bumblebee" almost ran into me...a three year old decked out in her Halloween costume, being chased by her young mother.  They were part of a group of mothers...not nannies...but stay-at-home mothers who had gathered for a Halloween picnic.  There were pirates, Indians, super heroes, ballerinas and I was immediately brought back to years in my past when I was able to take my toddlers out in the stroller with other young mothers.

Farther along I saw a lone man shooting hoops.

This was not a young high school student but instead "a man of a certain age." He saw me take out my camera and said..."You can't take my picture, I just signed with the NBA!"  He then consented and told me how he loved this park.  He has lived in the neighborhood for 57 years and comes here often.  A panorama of ages and activities...everyone involved in life.  I left the park uplifted, with a bit more of a spring in my step. I could also log in about 20 minutes of exercise into my nutrition log. There is a lot to be said for "looking for the light!"