Strangers no more!

It’s a little more than a week since I last blogged, and I’m finishing up my 7^th week of training –

no blisters yet, which is a very good thing. The weather has been HOT here in NC – not just your run-of-the-mill 90’s, but over 100 on several days; not exactly conducive to walking long distances, so I’ve been getting out on the trail by 7 a.m.   It’s a great time to be outside – the air is still somewhat cool, the neighborhood is sleeping, and I am one with my new sneaks and the roadway! 

The first mile I am always struck by the silence – people-silence, that is. The cars are resting quietly in their driveways, windows and doors are closed up tight, and even the sprinklers haven’t come on yet. Nature, however, is not sleeping – the birds are active, rabbits are quietly feeding, and families of deer are crossing from one meadow to the other.  I spot them coming out of the brush, and stop. They spot me coming up the road, and stop. I feel like an intruder in their world.  The fawns don’t know any better and walk towards me, only to be “disciplined” by their parent. We size each other up, and both wonder who’ll make the first move.  Some turn back into the brush, but the older, more experienced proceed across the street, keeping a watch.  When they have safely cleared the road, I continue on my way, with a smile on my face and a renewed spring in my step.  

As the minutes tick by, the neighborhood seems to awaken, slowly – sprinklers start up, garage doors open, and newspapers disappear from the driveways. No words are spoken, but smiles and waves are traded as I pass their homes.  One elderly gentleman approaches me from the other direction, and  his voice is the first I hear this morning (actually, the last few mornings) – it is  loud, completely out of place in the quiet, but very friendly, accompanied with a big smile…and my energy is renewed yet again. 

Workmen are making their way into the neighborhood, to continue the building of new homes. They murmur “good morning” as I pass, some in English, some in Spanish.  Dogs are given access to their backyards, and bark at me as I walk on by – one, a St. Bernard comes to the edge of the property and makes it clear that I should keep on, keeping on….and I do.  

As my fitness tracker marks another mile, the sun continues to rise higher and make its presence known.   Familiar faces exit their homes – to re-arrange their sprinklers, walk their dogs, start on their way to work – and every one of them note my presence, and signal a positive greeting of one sort or another.  A stranger the first time I walked this neighborhood, I now feel a part of it, and am learning the rhythm of their day – the policeman on the corner, the Time Warner man who gets to take his truck home, the working mom who explains to her children why they have to go to daycare as they climb into the mini-van, and the retired gentleman who tends to his beautiful flower gardens as if they were his children.  I feel so blessed that I have become part of this community, if only for a couple of hours, a few days a week. Hope they feel the same about the lady in pink!