Tall and tan and young and lovely……she was moving toward me.  No, she was not that girl, from Ipanema—-she looked to be a young mom, pushing a stroller made for two.  It was loaded with twenty wiggling  toes, attached to dressed-alike twins, no more than 14 months old, wearing matching sun hats and teeny-tiny pink glitter sunglasses.  They were squealing and waving, surely preparing for their future as prom queens aboard the Homecoming  float.    ”Mom” wasn’t actually strolling with the stroller.  She was running.  At top speed.  Her long, thick pony tail, swayed back and forth, a dazzling auburn pendulum in the morning sun.

She was also “walking the dog”.  A panting, drooling,  golden retreiver was leashed to the handlebars of this mega-stroller, seemingly gasping to keep up.  Actually, you could hardly call it a stroller.  It was more jet-propelled, command center, with a vast assortment of dangling, clanging,  accoutrement—water bottles for everyone, water bowl for the dog, phone holster, diaper bag, doggie pooper scooper, ipod holder, zip lock bags of Cheerios and trail mix, Handi Wipes, ChapStick and more unidentifiable gizmos than I had a chance to determine in our flash past one another.

Mom was also wearing one of those ipod holders on her upper arm and a set of ear pods dangled around her neck.  As she blew past me, it was apparent that the music was off for the moment because……she was talking on the phone……a little  mouthpiece was attached to her violet blue headset.   ”Can you hear me now?” was all I heard, as the menagerie moved along.  

Sheesh. This girl had a lot going on. She had certainly figured out how to leverage her morning run.

But, isn’t that what we do?  We call it multi-tasking.  She learned her lessons from watching those of us who have been whirling dervishes in our own right.  Some people would look at her and find her a shining example of  how organized and on top of things, she was.  I felt sad. This is the kind of bar we set for young mothers in our culture. That’s a whole ‘nother discussion.   But, I also felt inspired, after seeing her.

Inspired to do…….just one thing.  I wanted to just walk, when I went for a walk.

After seeing her, I left my own ipod at home.  I decided to just walk without anything but my own thoughts playing in my head. So, thanks to her…..this morning, I felt the amazing blustery, cool air on my skin.  I focused on the flora and fauna all around me, moving from summer to autumn. I took a moment to realize that another fall, my favorite time of the year, was headed our way.   Eternally, timelessly ufolding before us——-something we can count on, for sure.

Once a defunct railroad line, the center-of-the-city trail I was on, had been a crime infested eye-sore. But someone’s vision enlisted lot’s of effort and energy by all kinds of people….just to make my day start off with the smells and sights of a walk in the woods.  Only the sounds of the city interrupted the image.  It makes me realize what any of us could be capable of when we are struck with an idea that becomes a solution that becomes a movement.  Thank you so much for all of that.  The Idea.  The Energy.  The Effort.  The Result.

 I laughed out loud while counting the number of doggies and their look-alike owners.  And today, I made up little stories about the lives of the people, who like me, are there at almost the same time each morning.  Rather than wondering where they are headed when they leave this trail for their path in life, I just concocted stories of careers and kids and what their houses might look like inside. Utter, rambling,  foolishness.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed doing just one thing.  Just me, walking.  30 minutes, tops.