Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

The third most asked question about this taking a walk is,

Why are you doing this?

One big answer comes on the afternoon of October 30th (just one example of many I could give). The sky is clear blue, the sun is shining brightly in its low-in-the-sky autumn position. I am walking by green pastures and trees ranging from brilliant green to burning red. Dogs occasionally bark with their false bravado. An elderly couple is trimming a bush in front of the house where they have raised a family and grown old in grace together.

And my outdated iPod plays the haunting and inspiring french horns of Aaron Copland‘s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

This is simply so much great fun.

Some people believe this is the random combination of atoms. I don’t understand that.

The deceased writer Jeff Cooper often wrote of his hunting expeditions. In one recount, he sat on a rock above the clouds and watched the sun rise over them. He expressed his thanks for the ability he had been given, the ability to appreciate the wonder of it all.

That is one of the big reasons I am taking an 1,100-mile walk.

So I can appreciate the wonder of it all be and thankful.