Absence Makes...

On Tuesday, my PT told me if I want my left Achilles to feel better, I’d have to stop walking for a while. He didn’t mean stop walking from the front door to the kitchen, or from the backdoor to the car, he meant the extended walks I’ve been taking every day for years. The ones where I walk for miles on concrete sidewalks, the walks that take me past flowers to photograph, Giant Sequoias to gawk at, and chattering birds to listen to.

Yesterday, driving home from an errand I would typically do on foot, I went past the great lawn below Community Hall, Oregon State University’s first and oldest building. There’s a gently curving path leading up to that building with big, healthy Elms on either side. The sun was out – something to celebrate at this time of year in the Pacific Northwest – and the grateful grass was a vibrant green, shimmering in the breeze. What a sight! My old friends, the ones I’ve walked beside and under day after day for six-plus years now. Seeing them all from my slow-moving Prius made me a little weepy. I even said hello to them, figuring they knew I was missing them from afar.

Soon enough, I’ll be out there again. Time away reminds me how much I need them.

I took this photo of the path leading to Community Hall five years ago on a more typical day in Autumn in the Pacific Northwest

Spring on the other side of campus at 30th Street

a rainy day, heading home across the OSU quad

Thank you.