A week away

For the first week of my retirement, I decided to take a week without going on facebook or seeing the news. The goal was to quiet my mind. The result is that it certainly did not quiet my mind! However, much of the negative spin floating around my head disappeared. Since I primarily use facebook as a means of sharing my photos, I decided to post a photo from each day of the week in this post. Many of the photos are of Mariners Trail. I have no excuses for not taking better care of myself and I made a goal of walking either farther or faster than the day before. My routine has been to get up at 2 or 3 and be out walking by 4:30 a.m. I like to walk toward the sun until it rises above the horizon and then have it at my back so I'm not walking into a bright light.

While the trail is beautiful and I love the sound of the lake, I chose to have the playlists from my ipod blasting in my ears. The trail parallels a state highway and sometimes the traffic sounds distract me. I have written about my exercise playlists before. I've used them for over a decade and they are an eclectic mix of a variety of genres. I'm in my element as I cruise down the path, bopping along. My long shadow of the early morning light reminds me that my time on earth is fleeting, my impact minimal. Moving to a new chapter in life has me thinking about my legacy. I was involved with this trail at its inception and my shadow on the trail has me thinking of all of the people who had a hand in making it a reality. They may be faceless or nameless at this point, but they did a great service.

When I get back from walking, my routine is to head outside to check on the garden. I first look to see that the fence wasn't breached. So far, all has been secure. I'll do a little cultivating or hauling water. One morning, I heard a noise and looked through the fence to see a deer watching me work. Impulsively, I started singing. The song that popped into my head was This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie. The deer was captivated! I'm not so vain as to think it was for the quality of my voice but rather the curiosity. Every morning, for the next five days, that deer came and I sang! A couple times it started to walk toward me to get closer. I have tried to capture it on video but it has been a challenge to record, sing and not scare the deer at the same time. The best clip I have is rather grainy from the low light and I butchered the lyrics, as I am oft to do.

At the beginning of the week, I found myself almost checking facebook or the news a few times. I was surprised at how often this was part of my routine. Without needing to see what my friends or politicians are doing, I am able to focus on what I am doing. I'm reading, writing, and gardening more. My focus is on my corner of the world instead of the entire world. If you know me, you know that Gandhi quotes often circulate in my brain. From the 1982 movie with Ben Kingsley there is a scene where Gandhi is in his Ashram, attempting to create a community when some politicians stop by to talk with him. When they share some news he replies, "The news comes very slowly to where I live." For now, I am culitvating this feeling.

With social distancing, I don't get into town very much. When I needed to go to the post office, I passed a new mural of local

philanthropist Ruth West. The quote reads, "I have been generously endowed with an imagination & given the health & strength to do its bidding." The Ruth West Foundation has supported countless local initiatives in Manitowoc and she certainly did live by this quote. For the past week, I have been imagining many things. As I walked along the lake, as I worked in the garden, as I sang to the deer, I imagined what I wanted my world to look like. How can I work to make my corner of the world better? There were times when the ideas came so quickly that I lost them. As I continue to engage my mind, I'm sure they'll resurface. One thing I do know, I am going to begin by getting a job. In fact, I applied, interviewed and I start Aug. 15th. (This clincher is a check to see who actually reads the blog closely!)