For at least ten years now and perhaps a little longer, Ayuna Joan and I, along with whatever dog presently is part of the family (Kassi, Kai and now Mahti), walk for nearly an hour in early morning at first light, just before breakfast. This morning
we walked in half-icy rain, marveling and lamenting at the frosted trees and bushes everywhere, wearing YakTrax on our boots to keep from slipping. Still the walk was full of amazing beauty, dull and icy and the sky heavy with all the rain that is coming today.
Walking in the morning is no rare thing; many people are faithful to the practice. But for us, who love the same walk every day, every single day, it has begun to show us some of its magic. Unless it is pouring or blizzarding or colder that -14, we
are out there (and if one of those, then we go later in the day.) Old Mill Rd. has offered us countless gifts over many years. The walk has taken on something of our monring ritual, and like any good ritual, is always slightly different and opens us to surprises
almost every day, even if it appears outwardly the same. We love it, and it's one of the greatest gifts of living here.