A Lovely Day for a Walk

I had to go to the post office today to pick up something that had to be signed for. I glanced at the blue sky and then at the car keys I automatically picked up. Hadn't I been a slug long enough? I had ended up standing to teach most of my three-hour block of lessons on Wednesday because I was sick of sitting down. I've been doing a lot of sitting during the day, and then wishing at night that I had done something more physically challenging. I've been falling asleep at night promising myself that I would do something more the next morning. Morning comes and it's just too cold in my family room to walk on the treadmill in there. It's too cold to walk outside.

I stood there for perhaps five minutes in my kitchen looking at those car keys. Then I stuffed them in my pocket, grabbed a shoulder bag to carry the piece of mail I was picking up, and I walked out my front door into the sunshine. Take that Winter! Outside was crisp, but not uncomfortable, and the air was clear and the sun was shining. It felt good to be outside on my two feet.

I called one of my sisters on my cell phone and we chatted during my whole walk. I have a big scary street to cross and she "ran" with me across it. I laughingly told her that if I got hit by a car she was going to be the first one to know.

On my way home I tried to stop at one friend's house to visit, but she wasn't home. Another friend, however, was in her front yard. She is a friend I don't get to visit with very often because we aren't in the same ward any more, so the Sunday opportunities for socializing are gone. We had a lovely time talking in the sunshine. She was in her shirtsleeves (still too chilly for me to be in my shirtsleeves, but that's coming soon). I reveled in feeling a little breathless and my heart pumping more than it's used to.

My seed catalog is on the kitchen table and I started a list of vegetables and flowers I want to start. A plant nursery is soon going to overtake my kitchen and I have bigger plans for it than last year. Last spring was just to experiment, to see if I could do this. This year will be even better. I've learned I want to plant "determinate" tomatoes...those are the kind that just stay bushy instead of trailing all over, needing elaborate trellising devices. I'm going to try some different varieties of beans and pumpkins than I have tried in the past. I'm going to try starting some flowers myself for my flower pots.

And it's warm enough that I'm going to finish putting together my BBQ Christmas present and we are going to grill this weekend! Ha! Don't know what we're grilling yet, but it doesn't matter. (Hopefully I don't blow up my house. I'm a little nervous about the whole "hooking up the propane" part of this plan. I don't want to make the evening news!). Bring on Spring! Now!