Walk towards sanity

         It is ninety six degrees in the summer shade and it's not even ten in the morning. The humidity is so high you feel you might be breathing warm water. The gnats and mosquitoes are eating you for breakfast. To the people who are watching you from behind their double paned windows, fogged with the brisk air from the central air conditioning unit that is humming away full force as they sip at their ice laden lemonade, you must either be insane or an out of uniform mailman.

But the thing is, summer is in full swing. Squirrels chatter at you angrily as you walk under their tree's shade making you laugh. The wild flowers are in full bloom as if a rainbow exploded in a field. The yards are ornate and resplendent with flowers, spinners, and proudly hung American flags. The sky is so blue that there must be a heaven behind it. Sometimes, those wonderful, awe inspiring thunderclouds are rolling in, charging the world with power and beauty, not to mention the heat's respite that comes on the winds that herald them.

You would have to be insane not to do some healthy walking in the summer.

         The football game is on. Grandma's cooking something in the kitchen that always smells so mouth-wateringly good. . All the new shows are in season-opening splendor. The neighbor, who spies you through the open window by the easy chair, thinks you must be insane to be out walking around. But the thing is, autumn is in full swing. That cool breeze you prayed for all summer is blowing in your face and around that unzipped windbreaker. The trees appear to have suddenly bloomed into great splashes of yellow, orange, gold, and shades of red that only trees are capable of. Gaily carved pumpkins stare at you from yards that have become museum displays in the grandest Thanksgiving and Halloween tradition. Honking flocks of geese are flying overhead and...

you would have to be insane not to do some healthy walking in the fall.

         It is twenty degrees outside. It has been snowing steadily for two days. Sidewalks have long since been abandoned for clearing as snow shovels languish away on porches and in garages. The folks who spy you through the warmth of their fireplace heated havens think you must be insane. But the thing is, winter has finally arrived. The neighborhood is quiet in a way that only a good blanket of snow can make it. The snow so white and twinkling with diamond glints that it could have fallen from heaven itself. Beautiful red cardinals are twittering from evergreen branches and the air tastes so clean and crisp it makes you dizzy with clear headedness.

You would have to be insane not to do some healthy walking in those comfortable fur lined boots in the wintertime.

         Coffee is brewing in the kitchen. The windows are open letting in some of the freshest springtime air you've tasted all year. Last night's rain has promised to make a return engagement this afternoon and the flowers are ready to open their beauty wide to accept the sunshine that is sure to follow. Seventy degrees sounds and feels awfully good after the season of cold and white.

Beautiful color is finally making a comeback. Bike chains are being oiled and baseball gloves are coming out from under mattresses. New colorful clothes are being brought home by the bags full and kids are dreaming of two weeks off from school. Tonight's season finales of your favorite shows are already programmed into the DVR and barbeque grills are being dusted off. Cars have been washed for the first time in months. Butterflies are in all their glory and I'd just bet the bass are biting down at the lake.

You just saw some of your neighbors taking a good healthy walk and you'd be insane not to join them.