Icy Slopes

Days after the last serious snow it is still icy on the paths and on the slopes in the park where Prophet and I usually walk in the morning.  The woods are still full of snow, but it has a hard crust that we can step on without sinking in (most of the time!)  There are a few bare spots, but with ten degree temperatures, it isn't from melting.  The snow and ice are slowly subliming (I love that word!) and so each day there is a little less, but without mud and run off.

Walking on that ice, especially down the slopes, frequently requires so much attention that it shuts down all the other thoughts.  And then I gain a flat spot, with a view of the river and the Palisades and a moment of complete silence and I am awestruck with wonder and appreciation of the moment and the place and my companion.

On a dry, relatively flat path I sometimes spin with wondering who we will run into or what path we should take.  I rehearse the exact wording for things I want to write.  I consider new approaches to things that have been bothering me.  I get stuck in those things that have been bothering me.  I usually wake up to where I am after a few minutes because Prophet wants me to tug on the other end of a stick or go bushwhacking through terrain that requires my attention.  Or, again, suddenly I see the light coming through the clouds in a single beam and on a single bush.  Or I overflow with thanks for the friendship of a dog who wants to go for epic adventures every single day.

I have heard a lot of discussion privileging one or more of these approaches.  Somebody is on the radio urging me to "mindfulness."  I shouldn't lose myself in what I am doing or in my worries.  I should just watch myself.  Or perhaps I should completely throw myself into what I am doing, without thinking about it or other things.  And these people are all so earnest and calm and fulfilled and they are all so patient with my blundering.

I think I will continue blundering.  I enjoy the moments of awe at being alive and breathing.  But I get a lot of thinking done when I am distracted from what I am doing.  And being lost in activity is its own reward... especially when the alternative is falling headlong down an icy slope.