A Hurried Forty Minutes

Walk Location: neighborhood
Walk Time: early morning
Temperature: 52 degrees
Skies: dark
Steps: 3,000
iPod: "This American Life" podcast


My wife is out of town on business for a few days, so it means that I have multiple morning responsibilities. Usually my only "responsibility" is to get up and out of the house so as not to inconvenience our nine children as they spend their thirty minutes preparing to depart for school. With only two bathrooms it seems an unlikely scenario, but it actually works better than you might think. But that's another story.

I knew awakening this morning at 5:45 that I would need to decide immediately whether to initiate a brief walk or simply get ready and then observe the awakening routines of nine others. I debated the issue for five minutes, and then decided that a brief walk is better than no walk. I have been reading any number of article recently about how a walk first thing in the morning provides multiple benefits, including establishing a circadian rhythm in the body, firing up the metabolism for the day, assuring that the walker gets in the requisite amount of steps for the day (or at least a good start) before the evening, when most of us are tired from a day of work.

By 5:50 Gizmo and I were out the door. We step into the darkness. There is a chill in the humid air and it is breezy. My first inclination on days like this is to turn around and put on more than the summer shorts and t-shirt that is my typical walking apparel. But I know that within minutes I will be warm enough, maybe even too warm, so I adjust to the hairs on my arms and legs bumping and the slight shiver pass through my body.

There is a surprising amount of activity this early in the morning. Within three blocks we encounter a couple of people walking their dogs, one a large dog not on a leash, so I scoop Gizmo up and carry him for a few yards. With his large dog attack of nearly three weeks ago, Gizmo is much more skittish about larger dogs, and I'm not sure what kind of engagement he might initiate, although he has always been a non-aggressive dog.

We continue to walk on, meeting a few other walkers and joggers, watching the lights of the vehicles as they pass us by. I am enjoying today's Podcast, from National Public Radio's "This American Life." The episode I am listening to is "Settling the Score," in which the interviewer's guests are relating incidents about making peace with past events in life. I always find myself intrigued by the ordinary people interviewed on this program. They are not "big names" but their stories, like life, are always so interesting.

I look to the darkened sky and see the slightest crescent of a moon glowing in the early morning. I wish my iPhone could take a picture of its beauty, but alas, as much as I love my iPhone taking pictures in near-darkness is not one of its feats. It is still dark by the time we return home. I have barely begun to walk, so it feels like I have been cheated this morning, but it is back home to shower and dress and then to awaken the sleeping hordes of children.

A hurried forty minutes, but it's better than a somnolescent hour.