Why I Walk In the Morning

Walk Location: My neighborhood
Time of Day: Evening
Skies: Cloudy (?)
Temperature: 54 degrees
Steps: 3,200
iPod: "Yoga. Meditation in Action with Seane Corn," Speaking of Faith


Today is my wife's birthday, so by the time we finished lunch out with our kids and two other families it was early afternoon, cold and rainy. It was not the kind of afternoon to walk. Sunday mornings for me are always treacherously busy, so I do not have the opportunity to walk then, as I need to save my time and energy for my pastoral work. I have become so committed to walking, however, that tonight I had to set out to get some steps. While it was only a little more than 3,000 steps tonight, it always feels good to have walked.

The photo above reminds me why I prefer to walk in the morning, rather than at night. When I walk at night there is little to see except the ever-descending veil of darkness. When I walk in the morning (even if I begin when it is dark) I get to see the whole coming to life around me. In the heat of summer night has its advantages, with the cooler temperatures and the lingering light in the western horizon, but in autumn and the weeks beyond it only gets colder and darker, and both of which rather dramatically at times.

I am content with my steps for the night but not with the other parts of my walk experience that I have come to value.