Rain, wind and a walk

 

This is the view looking south from my front porch. Although it's not easy to tell from this picture, it's raining. It's been pouring now for a couple of hours, but early this morning I went out with the Fairhaven walkers (there were more than a dozen of us) all bundled up in the cold, expecting it to rain, but it didn't. In the most amazing timing ever, as I walked back to my car after our six-mile walk and well deserved coffee klatch afterwards, the rain began spattering my windshield. I wouldn't have gone this morning if the rain had already reached us. Satellite images were clear, showing the rain several hours out.

I love this group of walkers, led by Cindy. We meet at 8:00am every Saturday, rain or shine, at a place she chooses. She reminds us where we are going by email a day or two beforehand. The only time she cancels this walk is if it's icy and the footing might not be good. Most of the trails are around Bellingham, and I've been introduced to many of the beautiful places that are tucked away out of sight, some of them just a quick turn into woods from city streets. You just have to know the town as well as Cindy does.  I first joined this group on the only time each year she starts the walks at 9:00am: New Years Day. On the first day of the year, several of the long-time walkers bring food, and Cindy provides coffee and hot chocolate. Here's a post about my first visit with these friends; I realized when I started writing this that it's been almost two years now since that day.

Many times during the summer I'm out skydiving with my friends in Snohomish on Saturdays, so I miss this walk, but usually I try to get my knees in the breeze on Sundays so I can join them for a four- to six-mile walk at a brisk pace. Cindy was a world class race walker years ago, and she moves her tiny little body so fast across the ground that it seems like she's standing still, zipping from the front of the group to the back time and again with her dog Luna. Today we went up some very steep hills and down again, with the trail covered with damp leaves that had recently fallen from the trees. So many of the trails are in deeply forested woodlands. When we moved here, we knew about the nearby mountains and Bellingham Bay, but these numerous urban trails were a happy surprise. Two of my Senior Trailblazers told me about this group of (mostly) women and their dogs on leash, if they choose to bring them. Today we had fourteen walkers and three dogs.

Just a quick aside before I sign off: it's been almost three weeks since I've been wheat free (and free of any added sugar) and I notice one interesting side effect: my stomach is getting flatter and my waist is beginning to reappear. And here I thought it was gone forever! Is it possible that wheat can really cause that? I haven't lost any more weight and just want to keep what I've lost from creeping back up during the winter months. I remember once long ago seeing a cartoon showing the three shapes a woman can expect to have in life, using keys on the typewriter:

) (    Young babe
|  |    Premenopausal but no longer young
(  )   Postmenopausal old lady

Maybe it's not always true!
:-)