walks are therapy

Man, I’ve missed my walks.

Walking was always two things for me; one it was obviously for my physical health. I was never an athlete, unless you count backyard Badminton. I was a very physical Badminton player. But then following it up with a 64 oz Mountain Dew and a Jeno’s frozen pizza pretty much negated whatever physical activity came before it.

I was on the 7th grade football team for about three weeks, before I realized I really knew nothing about football, nor cared to know. I was a “stocky” teen, so it was just assumed I’d make a great defensive lineman. I could stand there and hold my own with someone trying to get through, but I had no desire to do that on a 95 degree August day when I could be home playing guitar.

So long walks have always been my main form of exercise as an adult. Hot days, cold days, dreary, sunny…it didn’t matter. Any chance to hit the pavement and sweat I was -and still am- good with it. And I’ve realized since my hospitalization and miraculous recovery from heart failure that I’ve truly missed my walks. Since our daughter and her dog Celeste have moved into the house back in August, Celeste and I have become walking partners. As soon as I walk into the door getting home from work everyday her tail starts going 100mph in anticipation of seeing me grab her choker collar. She knows that that means its walking time.

When I was feeling like crap from December to the end of March I could barely do a lap in the neighborhood with her without feeling that hyper ventilating feeling, which of course was my heart wanting to give up. So now that I’m feeling 25 years younger than I was three months ago I’m always up for a walk with Celeste.

---

But the other thing walks have been for me is a mental break. Throwing on some headphones and listening to music, a book, or a podcast I get lost in conversations, stories, music, or my own thoughts. Working things out that have been on my mind; be it work stress, house projects, meal ideas, possible music projects, or even just thinking about a movie that I watched and is still making me contemplate it. Walks are an outdoor sensory deprivation tank for me. I can get lost in them and give myself a good mental cleansing.

I’m finding that I’ve been enjoying city walks. I grew up a rural kid. Literally our address was Rural Route 6, Box 133. We lived off a county road and behind us was a couple acres of pine forest. So getting out and wandering consisted of riding our bikes through wooded trails that we made ourselves. It was fun and I’d not trade that upbringing for anything, but there was something about walking in town that always intrigued me. I had a couple friends that lived in town, as well as some cousins that lived in other small towns. So when I went to any of their houses for summer sleepovers we were always walking on sidewalks to get a soda and candy at a nearby convenience store. Or in my cousin Josh’s case there was a music shop called Shoestrings that we’d walk to in downtown Nappanee, IN that we’d buy cassette tapes at. Or we’d walk to the local theater to see a movie.

One of my friends in elementary school had a grandma that lived near Oakwood Cemetery, and his mom took us over to her house one Saturday after a Friday night sleepover. I remember us running around the cemetery on a hot summer day and it felt like I was on another planet. My house was 20 minutes away, but it might as well have been 20 hours away. Amazing what a change of scenery will do.

So the other day after work I decided to walk in town instead of at the Y, or at home. It’s a neighborhood near where all my kids went to elementary school. The school was tore down a few years back and rebuilt as the expenses of repairs outweighed a new building. It’s not the same, but memories remain.

You have so many more options walking in town. They’re neighborhoods, but not like our neighborhood. They’re interconnecting neighborhoods, with sidewalks as the trail I guess. I walked through one neighborhood trying to find a house that one of my high school friends lived in. It’s been 35 years, so I think the looks have changed. I thought I was in the right area, but I wasn’t for sure what house it was. I spent a decent amount of time there in high school. We worked on our Photography short film project at his house, me recording voiceovers thru a DOD Flanger pedal. We soundtracked it with Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them” and a band called Maggie’s Dream. And of course some of my guitar playing over scenes from the end of Dr. Strangelove as the atom bombs were dropping.

Having not found the house, I made my way over to Oakwood Cemetery. While it was a nice day temperature-wise, the sun was warm. Oakwood has lots of shade trees amongst the tombstones, so it was nice having a little break from the warm sunshine.

I’ve walked Oakwood many times over the years. Some might find it morbid, but not me. There’s a peace there. I know a few people that have made it their permanent residence, so I guess you could say I’m taking communion with them. I’m visiting them at their forever home. My wife’s grandparents are there, as are some family friends long gone.

---

I guess I sort of feel invisible when I’m on those walks. It’s like I’ve stepped into some other dimension, and the only thing connecting me to this one is the music, or the voices I’m hearing via the headphones crammed into my ears. I’m still paying attention to drivers and street signs, but it still feels like I’m alone and traveling from some other time and place.

A walk is an escape from the day and the people and sounds and noise. It helps me get centered and think about what needs to be thought about. And yes, they’re there to keep me healthy and not stagnant. This week will be lots of walking at the Y as most of the days are going to be well into the 90s. I don’t mind heat, but not that kind of heat.

Are you a walker? Where’s your favorite place to walk?