A Walk in the Park

The Power of the Blog Compells You!

This article is from a series of regular blog posts for a Toastmasters project that requires writing blog posts over one month, until the 17th of February. I observed that I love writing, but not doing it regularly. Therefore, my aim is to write 2 posts per week, with or without photos,
One will be in english, because I feel to practice some communication skills.

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The walk

This morning I was a bit sluggish, even though I felt I got a good night sleep. So, I felt reconnecting to nature. The wild park is 2km away and I wanted to walk the distance.

My first outside job was taking out the trash, and I felt proud of it. I`ve seen my car parked there. 

"Should have taken my keys. It`s freezing. And I could of brought my camera and tripod to show off some great zoomed in pictures of birds."

At -4 degrees, it was chilly, even for my boarded jeans. I rushed through the small lake park, that had screaming brigthly dressed skating youngsters. I wasn`t warming up yet.

My arm Xiaomi bracelet displayed 122 beats per minute. "Yep. Quite a workout.", I thought.
I started applying the emergency "Fire Breathing" that I learned during a shamanic class. This focuses more on expiration. In about 5 minutes, while bathing in the bright sunlight, I was good to go.

The small town of Sebeș could very well be asleep, even at noon. There were almost no cars on the side roads. As I arrived in the park, I saw this fat Labrador retriever watching me from near a pillar of the old aqueduct. Luckily, he was on his leash, and the owner was just around the corner. I was a bit uncertain, but I did what I had to do. Took out the pair of binoculars from my backpack and hanged them from around my neck. The dog turned his head curiously. I walked calmly and the dog wagged it`s tail.

„Hey there!”. I said smiling from underneath my mask.  
Hearing us, the lady owner laughed.

I was a great day. The park was full of crows that were flying around the old trees, in which some jackdaws were chilling and being cute. A few cars with young drivers were passing by occasionally. Three goldfinches with their red faces were chatting  on top on one of the highest ones. It sounded like a sweet turning of a musical wheel. Imagine putting five sounds onto a clock and then spinning it. Honey to my ears, and delight to my eyes!

I came across a northern Romanian type of gate. Those icicles were marvelous!

While I was capturing the image, a car full of youngsters stopped in the big parking lot. I overheard them, because they were almost screaming with enthusiasm.
The blond one: ”Man, did you see how I`ve handled this baby? Trust me. Snow makes a pro out of you.
The redheaded one: "Those reflexes! You could star in Need For Speed.”
The more serious long haired one: ”You said it, brother.. I`m glad we got this full traction Audi from the Germans. It was a bargain.”
Meanwhile, the fourth, smallest one was laughing the whole time.

In comparison, being in my thirties, I haven`t got many friends to „play in the snow” with. If I have had my license and a car at 18 years old, I would probably have had the same behavior as those fellows.

As I came back, I went across a wood and metal foot bridge, the sound of the snow humming and purring from underneath my boots was grand. It had a nice echo to it. I slowed down and took several turns, feeling every small movement that my foot was doing. Crispy winter heaven!

I hear a whirring in my left side. Then, a green thing passed me. It was an old beardy man with a Che Guevara cap and a winter grey trench coat was riding a lime mountain bike.  That`s something you don`t see everyday. He had in his trunk two blue 5liter bottles filled with water from the local spring.

The crows and the goldfinches were still there, and occasionally a looping garden woodpecker called "
„Țiff! Țiff", while a three-tone whistling blue tit was playing through the tall branches.

On my way out of the park, dusty old green car rode off in front of me. On the right passenger side was that fat lab retriever, sitting majestically. 

„That car is perfect for a dog”, I thought to myself. „Small and old.”

I felt the deep connection to Mother Nature and kept walking and smiling. I enjoyed the sight of the lady drivers. For example, a redheaded one had a great smile, and a blond one was with no makeup on. Pure and sweet.

I took a road less traveled by foot and then Then it hit me. I`ve never seen this much level of detail when I was biking or using the electric scooter.

.

One gate really caught my eye. Perfect lighting.

After passing it, I began constructing sentences and ideas that I wanted to write about. After the door lock clicked into place, my journey had come to an end.  I felt relieved in that 1 hour and 4 minutes that I spent at minus 4 degrees Celsius, with the first blog post of the Level 4 Pathways project.

 Walking is certainly better when it is done with purpose.