Power Walking Versus Nature Walking

 As noted below, I take my walking seriously. I'm the one out there with earphones and arms pumping like I am sprinting the 100 meters at the Olympics. I listen carefully to Coach Hartshorn (the female voice on the Map My Walk app) when she gives me my splits and times, putting a little more burn into it if I'm lagging. Because of Coach Hartshorn I've gotten faster which in the way our society measures things is seen as improvement. There's a reason they call this style of walking power walking.

Power walking does not lend itself to deep observing or really observing of any type. If I'm lucky I see the flits and flickers of critters when I power walk, a bird here (one yesterday aptly named Flicker), an insect there, a blooming flower, a tree with the first yellow leaves. Mostly though I'm watching my footing and if I think of it, I look up at the sky.

Nature walking is meandering, directed by curiosity, called by sights and sounds that might yield discoveries (or might not). It can be fast or slow but it is rarely about power. I realize I need to make time for nature walking. I felt a pang the other day when I power walked by a stand of milkweed and realized I didn't have want to make time to stop and poke for possible monarchs.

In addition to setting aside several hours for a nature walk and soon, I need to remember to occasionally pause the power, the speed, the striving and take a moment to stop and observe. This, in my opinion, is better than getting faster. I hereby give me and you permission to pause the app and look at something particularly inviting.

Like I did yesterday with a velvet ant that is actually not an ant but a wasp.





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