Greetings Fellow Earthlings!

And it is a lovely spring day to be greeting you so. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Even though it sprinkled on me as I walked around  the lake this morning, the trees, bushes, flowers and grass all collectively sighed happily. They were overjoyed to feel the gentle droplets. So who was I to be crabby about getting a little wet?

Besides, my biggest problem was not getting wet. It was that I was experiencing motion sickness.

From walking??

Yep. Let me explain. The rain was collecting on my hat and running down to the brim of my hat, one drip at a time. Once it got to to the middle of the front edge it hung on for four or five steps before yielding to gravity and falling. But it was those four or five steps where it would run back and forth three inches  along the rim, rocking back and forth with each step. And, of course, it was right where I could see it in my peripheral vision.

It takes very little to make me dizzy. And this was the very little it took.

Back and forth, back and forth, back, drop. Three more steps and it would start again. Back and forth, back and forth, back and maybe forth this time before it dropped.

If I glanced at it, I was crossing my eyes and that didn’t help the rocky feeling either. Oh, for crying out loud!

I finally took to reaching up and wiping the drip before it could seesaw, and that seemed to help.

As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, ” If it’s not one thing, it’s another!”

First world problem, for sure. (that’s a first world problem in MN)

I do enjoy my time walking around the lake though. It was difficult at first; I’m not going to lie.

All.  That.  Time.  To think to myself! What would I think about? Shouldn’t I bring earphones and an I Pod? What if I got bored????

Well, I am so glad I didn’t. I have come to regard that silence as valuable and to look forward to it. It is a time to listen to all around and inside me and to appreciate it. The songbirds, ducks and geese keep me company, the large boulders lining the pathway beg to be identified and categorized as to what part of Minnesota they came from, the newly budded flowers ask me to stop and look, really look at them.

The robin’s egg empty on the sidewalk tells me of a baby robin who once lived in it and is now being fed by its mama. The color of the egg takes my breath away; it is such a happy color.  The eggshell, once empty blew out of the nest.

The young birches watch me with their Egyptian eyes.

One morning the surface of the lake is like glass until one duck heads across to the other side, neatly carving a vee  in the smoothness. The following two ducks swim in the line on one side of the vee; it will look like only one has crossed the lake.

Still another morning enjoys the sound of nine year old boys running along the edge, throwing stones in the water, laughing, football forgotten in the weeds.

Today the duck parents were acting as lifeguards patrolling the shallow water as their ducklings practiced their shore walking and swimming skills. Their uncles were yards away watching for the resident muskrat according to another walker.(although I find  evidence to both support and deny that they eat ducklings or duck eggs)

All the pics are of these moments with the exception of the ducklings this morning. They were too far away.  The little Huck Finns and Tom Sawyers tossing rocks are in the distance behind the “Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project” sign. Safely on the other side of the lake.

I am enjoying my 30+ minutes of walking around the lake.

Part of my decision to walk sans I Pod was made after listening to an interview I heard on the radio the other day about addiction to distraction. It hit home. I know that I can be distracted by the IPad and the Internet. And the distraction is pulling me away from —–I don’t know——-being me?

And the irony is not lost on me that I am posting yet one more thing for people to read on the Internet. But hopefully, there is a connection made that will make your day more enjoyable.

For some reason I remember a fact I learned years and years ago about Martin Luther. He prayed/meditated for many hours a day. It was like four hours, all at one time. When asked, he said he couldn’t imagine getting anything done without  it.  When I first heard that, I wondered how he got anything done with it!

But now I understand a little better.

Well, the cardinals were canoodling in the grapevine, but have now flown off, perhaps to canoodle somewhere else. This is good, there is not enough canoodling in this world, if you ask me!

Have a terrific Tuesday coming up! Teachers, hang in there!

Love,

Janet