MORE TIME, MORE WALKS

by Bill Slavin

In reading op-ed pieces and messages from friends, I've noticed the tone of our sequestering has changed. Two themes stand out to me. First, besides the demands for needed medical supplies, for many people, this is a time to reassess our country's values; and secondly, this is a time on a more personal note, to either take advantage of the long, uninterrupted moments to do major projects or to let go of that desire to always be busy. Or maybe many realize that we can do both. 

Which of these appeals to you?

by Bill Slavin

I've been reading Robert MacFarlane's book, The Old Ways, part of a trilogy about his walks across Britain, across Spain while avoiding the Camino de Santiago, across parts of Tibet into China, and across parts of Palestine. He describes in detail his encounters with the natural world and with the other walkers he meets. He also investigates who the walkers were who led him to these trails. He describes footprints left thousands of years ago on a path near the sea. He is always looking for the wildest places left on Earth.

Mushrooms emerging

Bill and I create our own path on our daily walks on the same two-mile stretch of asphalt road that winds around and ends at a dirt path leading up to Mt. Diablo. The trail up to the mountain has been used by hikers for as long as we have lived here. In the last couple of years, mountain bikers discovered the trail. They whiz by our windows on their way home. As we walk, we don't make an impression on the asphalt that would let others know we had been there. We will be wisps without a trace, like the wind blowing leaves away.

A Spanish saying, "To walk is to gather treasure," reminds me of all that we have seen while walking. We have seen Spring unfurl each day as tender leaves sprout and grow.  We notice how the grass shoots up along the paths made by the deer that forage in our neighborhood. The deer trails disappear in the summer as the grass grows taller. The woodpeckers have rat-ta-tated holes like Morse code across the trims on several houses along the road.

Bill has been looking for faces in the bark of trees. He has found some to photograph.

by Bill Slavin

by Bill Slavin

We listen to the throngs of bees in our Japanese maples and count the ones feasting on the rosemary blooms down the street. We wonder where the beehives could be. As we walk home we hear a crescendo of buzzing. We look up a hill and a swarm of thousands of bees erupts from an oak and sails across the hillside. They vanish into the grass and all we hear is the buzz again.

A wild turkey calls out and spreads its tail feather at a female nearby. Two deer look across the road, hesitate as we advance, and then turn and duck under the scrub by the creek. We watch crows gathering twigs from the tallest branches of the sycamores out in front of our house.  Neither of us was quick enough to catch a photo of the grey fox that hopped into our yard and sent the squirrels chattering with warnings. We wave at neighbors as they take advantage of a warm sunny day to walk. We sigh. Our time outside gives us a touch of spring and a respite from the news that surrounds us every day.

by Bill Slavin

Stay safe and stay well.