I Am A Walker - Right In My Own Backyard

After spending a week in Barcelona where we walked an average of 6 miles a day, I came home determined to maintain my new physical endurance by walking every day I could.  With my pedometer on my waist, I set out first thing in the morning so I won’t get waylaid by the computer, the newspaper, my knitting…first things first!

Over the week I have renewed my love and appreciation for where I live.  It is a little piece of paradise and it is right in my own backyard!  I set off down the hill from my house, with my eyes on the ocean ahead of me.  

I have discovered that there is a multitude of morning activities in our park that I have never noticed before.  I walk past the dog park and see the pet owners taking their furry friends for their morning walk.  

 I walk past the community gardens, check on my veggies and often see a gardener watering early to avoid the heat. 

I continue along the path along the Paseo Del Mar walking trail, looking out at the water, the fishing boats already out, the surfers, the seagulls on the water.  

At the end of our community park path there is a padlocked gate that lets me out onto the public path in the Nature Preserve that separates our community from the Trump Golf Course.

I pass by the recently  created watershed with its newly planted native ground cover.

 I share the trail with others, people who may have traveled from all parts of the South Bay to walk these beautiful paths.   

Most of them respect the beauty of our little piece of the earth, but some come for other reasons and leave their traces behind them.  

 I guess that is also why these signs are posted periodically along the path as it hugs the top of the cliffs. 

Eventually, I stop at the little rest area and check my pedometer…almost one mile from my front door.  

I sit and gaze out at the ocean for a while, feel the constant breeze on my face, hear the sounds of the gulls and the surf.  I have to actually force myself to stand up and head back, leaving this little pause in the pace of life.

So I have invested about 1 hour of my life in this activity.  I have walked 2 miles.  I have communed with nature.  I have chatted with some early morning neighbors.  I have started my day right in my own backyard!