This morning my sneakers hit the pavement at 6:30 for an hour walk around town before work. In my back pocket is my new point-and-shoot camera. I'm barely out of the church parking lot, ambling down a crooked sidewalk when a saucer sized, pale lavender clemtis boldly poking through a slim, white picket fence stops me dead in my tracks.
Slipping the camera out of my pocket, I fire it up and compose the shot. Click! Not a good shot. I click and compose again, and again, and again. I fiddle with the settings, still can't get the shot I want! I'm in a learning curve with this camera. My other camera, my faithful sidekick, is a full size DSLR with all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately, being inconspicuous is not an option with this camera hence the point-and-shoot. Finally . . . a good shot!
It also forces me to focus on the sites, sounds, and scents of my walk. The little things we often miss during the day: a large bouquet of lavender sweet peas backlit by the morning sun; a woman walking matching coal black Scotties, a street sweeper making his rounds before the curbs crowd with parked cars.
An old hollowed out tree stump perched on the edge of a sidewalk a homeowner planted with variegated pansies or enjoying the heady fragrance of blooming fuschia peonies and deep red beach roses poking their heads through wrought iron fences.
Next time you go for a walk don't think, or worry, about all the things you need to do. Look around, pay attention and step outside your world to enjoy the world around you.
Namaste
Chris
This post occurred and was written late last week.
5 comments:
Chris, the pictures are lovely, such a vivid colors. Yes, in deed, we need to pay more attention to our surroundings, to connect each of our steps to our Mother Earth, to really feel it when we touch the ground ... I'm happy you had a lovely walk! Namaste.
Thanks for taking me along on your walk. I woke up this morning with all intentions, but reading this was just enough ;)
Beautiful shots of your morning walk. I wish I could vicariously get the same burning calorie effect from looking at the pictures. : ) Have a good weekend!
Chris, thank you for stopping by and your kind words :-) You are so right! I actually think it is because of my strain muscle and the fact that I cannot do yoga these days, that it did hit me so much aver the past few days. But maybe it is kind of a hidden awareness wake up call ... have a beautiful day!!
lol.. I have to laugh at the timing. I spent a good part of the day today with a photographer friend..we wandered down narrow streets lined with character homes and took pictures of gardens and fences and many other interesting things. It was wonderful...except for the crazy wind.
But I have to hand it to you...I could not imagine getting up and doing this sort of thing at 6:30 in the morning!! Oh how I wish I had that kind of willpower...there is such beautiful light at that hour. And stillness. Maybe one day this summer I will get up early and wander...you will no doubt be in my thoughts.
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