#tbt: wisdom from a walk

Marcus & me on a sunset walk in Santa Fe, January 2014

I've been doing a lot of walking lately, so walks are on my mind.  Here's some wisdom I got from a walk that I took almost exactly 7 years ago:

I was walking back from taking Alex to school, and I saw her: a woman I used to see often, a woman who spent most mornings walking her springer spaniel.  I assumed her to be a bit older than me: 60, I guessed, perhaps 65.

On this particular morning, she looked particularly radiant, and as is her normal friendly way, she called out hello.

"Hi," I smiled back.  "You look great this morning!  You must be having a great day!"

"Oh thank you," she grinned.  "You know, I just celebrated my 80th birthday last week."

Obviously, I asked her what her secret was to living to 80 years old and remaining beautiful and young-looking.  She told me that she loved the outdoors, and she loved beautiful things.  "I just like looking at beautiful things," she stressed again.

And so here's to looking at beautiful things, friends.

Soundtrack:  Beautiful by G. Love featuring Tristan Prettyman

---