Walking and Talking

I’ve been walking in Bear River every morning at 8 am with my friend Pat. We walk for an hour and cover 4 ½ kilometers up and down VERY steep hills. In fact, it feels like it’s uphill both ways!

Clouds forming and rising up from Bear River this morning.

We’ve been doing this for 6 weeks now, most mornings, rain or shine. This is so not typical of me to
a) be up and out that early and
b) to be using my non-painting, non-computer muscles 😉

And not only do I actually enjoy it and look forward to it, but  I am feeling the benefits. Pardon me if I sound like I’ve invented exercise, but it’s kind of like when you have a baby and think that no one else has ever experienced this before. You are so amazed at the baby and what a joyous life altering experience it is that you want everyone in the world to have the same opportunity.

We added ¾ of an hour to our walk on the morning that we explored this path along a brook.

I definitely have more energy and this has made me more productive in the painting and food harvesting departments. I feel more flexible, my knees have stopped hurting, and I can walk up these steep hills without stopping to catch my breath. It’s still an effort and I’m not racing, but damn it, I can do it now!

It’s still hard waking up and crawling out of bed on overcast, gloomy mornings, but I con myself by promising “you can go back to bed afterwards if you’re still tired”. So far, this hasn’t happened.

We start out at the river and then walk towards the head of the tide.

I begin the morning with a smoothie made from yogurt, a tablespoon of peanut butter or almonds, an apple, a peach, a banana and maybe a carrot or blueberries. I skip the tea or coffee and make that the reward when I come home along with a fresh, free-range, boiled egg.

A smoothie is fast to make and easy (and delicious!) to drink.

We mostly walk around the river and zig zag through the roads that hug the hills until we get to the top of the world. We chat about our families, our studios, our gardens and before you know it, the walk is done.

The iconic buildings on stilts in Bear River.

Having a walking partner makes all the difference to me because without Pat I know I would find lots of reasons for staying home and walking ‘later’.

And what a beautiful walk it is as you can see from these photos.

Looking back at the village from one of MANY steep hills.

View from our doorway as I step into the cool morning.

We’ve watched the shrubs change from white to pink. Cuteness.

This building sits empty and has melted into the trees.

We surprised some campers by the riverside. I wonder if they realized they would wake up in the middle of the village.

This house is so sweet with its English garden out front.

The swirl of life at the head of the tide.

There are interesting signs in Bear River.

I like the symmetry of these dump trucks.

How do you like this street sign?

And then we go back to our studios when it’s all over.

Red-handed pottery by Pat Woods, Bear River

Pat Woods, Red-handed pottery at the Bear River waterfront.

I was so inspired by the wild Asters growing on our walks that I painted  a bouquet.

Wild Asters on my Walk.