A Walk Through January

I accepted a challenge at the beginning of January to walk at least 20 minutes each day for the month.  My cousin has started a monthly Facebook "challenge" group for the last 3 months to help motivate herself...and others.  The first month was the month of daily planks.  The second month was a month of random acts of kindness and January was a month of walking at least 20 minutes each day.  I did the planks and I did the walking.  I skipped out on the random acts of kindness, but just knowing there was a group doing this made me do a few of my own random acts of kindness.  So it still worked!  I guess I am a sucker for a challenge!

When I joined the group I thought to myself , "no problem, I walk all the time anyway, this will be easy.".  I admit, it was easy...most days.  But committing to do something EVERY day is a lot, unless it is wake up, brush your teeth, eat, drink, and sleep.  There were days I was busy.  There were days it rained.  There were cold days.  There were travel days.  (yes, I traveled in Covid)  There was the day my newborn grandson came home from the hospital. There were days I just didn't feel like it.  But...for 31 days, I walked every day...and I loved it!

I eventually walked down...and up this hill!

  I walked in California, Texas and Louisiana.  I walked with each of my three sisters during the month.  I walked with one of my daughters.  I walked with my husband and one of my sons-in-law.  I walked with my 84 year old Mother.  I listened to music, I listened to podcasts, I listened to The Thirteenth Tale, I listened to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me or The Moth and on Sundays I listened to Mass.  I even just listened to the world around me.  I would like to say I thought great thoughts during my walks...and maybe I did.  They say walking is a moving meditation and I can absolutely agree with that.  It has been a large part of my sanity over the last 10 months.  Even though the challenge is over, I will continue to walk.

California

Texas

Louisiana

I did take a lot of pictures during my walks.  I loved trying to find something photo worthy on each walk.  I had always wanted to do a personal challenge to find something beautiful or interesting to photograph every day and during the walking challenge I did.  My cousin welcomed photo sharing during the walking challenge and I embraced the invitation.  February is sit-up month and I am afraid the photos will not be nearly as interesting!  

I will have many fond memories of my January walks.  Spending the first half of the month in California and committing to walking was a double blessing.  I did my best to vary my route around my daughter's house in order to see as much of the area as possible.  I loved the different houses and gardens along every path and definitely had my favorite streets...which were not necessarily the flattest streets.  I sure hope all that hill training pays off somehow!  I was very lucky to be able to include exploration into my daily walks instead of following the same path I have walked hundreds of times before back home.

My favorite garden on my favorite street

Best stairway!

Most colorful house!

best little surprise

Back home I tried to see things differently on my "regular" walk.  I've tried this before...sometimes it even works.  There were definitely days I just walked...but occasionally I would open my eyes and try harder to see with new eyes.  Sometimes it even worked.  Sometimes I just wished I was still in California on one of my favorite streets with all of the colorful houses and pretty gardens.  Then I would just tell myself to snap out of it!  One thing I have learned in Covid is to just be where you are.  

Texas winter landscaping

"Self portrait in puddle"
Thanks shoes!

For the last week of the challenge I was in Louisiana with my family.  I walked several days with my Mother and those were some very special walks.  Major props to my Mom for walking 2.5 miles several days!  We shared some very nice moments during those walks.  I also got to see some places in Baton Rouge I have not seen before.  Believe it or not, I had never walked all the way around the LSU lakes.  What a beautiful walk!  Finally, the walk through the Burden Gardens was educational and beautiful.  It was the perfect way to end the month of walking.  I think my month of walking and accountability was a great way to start a new year.  I may not have made any resolutions but for one month I had one element of discipline in my life.  Small goals people!  Thanks Lenore!  I loved walking through January!

Swamp walk

A ray of sunshine

Roses..not phlox

It was even prettier in person

The old and the new
a theme for January

Condolences and Congratulations

 Hello 2021!

Last year was one for the history books.  To think that turning one digit on the calendar would magically change our world may be wishful thinking, but maybe we could all use some wishful thinking right now.  At least I feel like there is a glimmer of hope that this year will be better than last year.  Wishful thinking?

We spent the last 5 weeks with our daughter, her husband and occasionally his parents, in California waiting for the arrival of their first child, due the first week of January.  Our pod of six felt luxurious to TJ and I after our ten days of "quarantine" and the previous several months spent alone...together.  Living with other people felt so decadent!  Not sure how the other people felt but we kinda liked it!

I did not mind the views on my daily walks at all!

Meanwhile, back home, my Dad's health took a turn for the worse, he was back in the hospital and entering his last days in this world.  He did get his final wish, which was to go home.  After being out of his comfortable home for almost two months, he was taken back for his final days.  He passed, on December 31, 2020, with my mother and one of my sisters by his side.  I hear it was peaceful.  He lived 90 years and had the love of my Mother for the last 64 of them.  If you are interested in reading his obituary you can go here.  It truly captures my Dad and my sister did a great job of writing it in all of our voices.  New Year's Eve will forever be changed.  What a way to end the year that was 2020. 

The emotions of the first week of the year ran the gambit of sorrow, sadness, anticipation, happiness, confusion, indecision, decision, guilt, gratitude, pride, sheer joy, love and everything in between.  To miss my father's last days was heartbreaking.  Time missed being with my siblings and my mother during that week can never be replaced.  I felt like I was in an alternate universe of suspended animation.  It is hard to feel what I know I should be feeling without the company of my siblings and my mother.  My mourning seems incomplete until I can be with them.

Meanwhile, we were able to experience one of life's most miraculous events.  The birth of a baby and the immediate love that is poured out when they enter this world is one of life's greatest gifts. Being able to cradle that sweet boy and just look at him for hours was perfection.  Being there to help my daughter and her husband through those emotional and exhausting first days home together was a priviledge.  My Dad knew that I would be in California for the birth.  We already had our last moments and words even though we may not have known it for sure.  He was very excited about the new baby on the way, he loved family.  He would have beamed seeing that sweet little face.  I am sure he is looking down and beaming now.  

August Mott Owen
born January 6, 2021

Making the choice of staying in California or going to Baton Rouge for the funeral Mass was gut wrenching.  If we were not in a pandemic with so many health risks involved, I would have bought a round trip ticket in a flash.  Life is not that simple these days.  We put in the time and effort to be virus free for the birth of the baby and the weeks to follow, the decision had been made.  It was not an easy one.  I had my Mother's blessing to stay in California and so we did.   

Baby August was one week old when we watched his great grandfather's funeral Mass on the television.  It was a beautiful ceremony, even on the live stream.  Funerals are very different in a pandemic.  There is no hugging, very few people can or do even attend, and everyone is sitting far apart mourning in their own space.  I was very thankful for the live stream option!  I am also glad I was able to watch with my daughter, her husband and baby August, free to hug each other and cry together.  What an emotional roller coaster!  To say goodbye to someone who raised me and made me the person I am while holding an innocent, perfect little boy who is his great grandson and was loved by him even before he was born was profound and poetic.

The circle of life

I am back home now, biding my time for a bit after flying, before I finally go to Baton Rouge to see my family.  I went through my 5 weeks of mail when I got home.  I loved reading all of the Christmas cards and letters I missed while I was gone.  I also came home to sympathy cards full of kind words from friends and family.  There you have it.  January 2021... a month of mixed emotions full of condolences and congratulations.