Walking outside

This is why my husband hates it that I blog...

I usually walk with my next door neighbor Beth in the mornings, but I overslept. So I walked an hour later than usual. When I walk by myself, like today, I usually go to the gym, get on an eliptical, stick in the earbuds for my Nano, and catch up on Speaking of Faith. But today I decided to walk outside on the usual path Beth and I take. After bathing my poor pale skin in sunscreen, I set out.

Three blocks from my house, someone whisted at me. Greatly annoyed, I turned and saw Taciturn driving by. He had several appointments on the other side of the base today. It always is a gift to see him during the day. He works such long hours, so seeing him at all is a treat!

Walked a mile further and noted a man with glasses coming toward me on the path. I had sunglasses instead of my seeing glasses on, so I had spoken to him in a neutral good morning before I realized who he was--a general for whom my husband has twice worked! A very nice and yes, humble man (unusual amongst generals), we caught up a bit. He also is retiring this year. He is in the area for a conference. Again, what a gift!

As I did my cool down on my street, a car came past with South Dakota plates on it. I noted that the car was licensed in the same county as are our cars, so I just waved the car down and spoke to the man driving it for a few minutes--he turned out to be a chaplain. He and my husband both had been stationed at Ellsworth AFB in the early 1990s.

I started to go into my house but stopped when a car honked--there were my friends Amy and Monica. I don't see them as much as I used to, and we all are moving away in the next six weeks. We stood in the street and visited as well.

My walk today, besides giving me needed exercise, was such a gift! It was great to connect with all kinds of people that otherwise I would not have been able to do.