We sat in silence, letting the green in the air heal what it could.
~ The Scent Keeper
Life itself is as much a long walk as it is a long conversation, and the ways along which we walk are those along which we live.
~ Tim Ingold, Ways of Walking
Some days you’re just not sure what you’re in the mood to drink. There are mornings when any old plain, black coffee will do, and other mornings when you know it’s going to be a long, exhausting day. Those are the days you treat yourself to something special.
Playing along with Kathy. Won’t you join us?
Beware, O wanderer, the road is walking too.
~ Jim Harrison, from After Ikkyū and Other Poems (Shambhala, 1996)
… holiness is made of dailiness, of living life as it comes to me, not as I insist it be.
~ Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years
SOLVITUR AMBULANDO.
This ancient Latin phrase loosely translates as “It is solved by walking.” A walk is a journey that requires very little — neither planning nor passport, neither ticket nor equipment. Nearly always at our disposal, a walk provides so much more than just a change of scenery. Walking has helped me decide what is wise and what is foolhardy, has made me fall in love with a place, has batted away my melancholy. Walking has helped me loosen the grip technology has on my life, giving me space and permission to disconnect from my devices that beg for my attention and feed my anxiety. Most of all, walking has nurtured my creativity as I struggle to give tangible form to abstract ideas.
~ Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, in the introduction to Afoot and Lighthearted: A Journal for Mindful Walking
I have been trying to come up with a good way to introduce Frank. Some of you might already by familiar with him from his blog, A Frank Angle. Frank and I go back quite a ways in blog years although I can’t say exactly when we met in cyberspace and cybertime. It was back in my Life in the Bogs days, that much I know for sure. He has been a great blogging companion and has joined in on quite a few Walktobers (his first, I think, was in 2013). Honestly, I think if you really want a hint of who Frank is, go read the comments in his last post at A Frank Angle, On the Finale: The Puzzle’s Last Piece. Frank had a big impact on a lot of people, bringing a diverse group of us together for musicals (always great fun!), politics, satire, and more. One of the comments describes Frank’s blog as a front porch and it’s true. That is what it felt like when we gathered there for music or discussions. Here is what I wrote as my final comment:
Frank, my friend, you have me in tears. Good tears, though, for a good man who created this wonderful place for people to meet. When you wrote about your visitors and how you connected with people, you left out how we visitors also connected with each other in various ways. You’ve created this amazing web, all by being yourself. Well done. Very well done.
Frank posted his final post at A Frank Angle, On the Finale: The Puzzle’s Last Piece, in February with hints of possibly more to come. I am honored and pleased to bring you this guest post from Frank as a sampling of what his new blog, opening on October 20th, will be gifting to us. Beach Wak Reflections is the name of Frank’s new blog.
Without further ado…
Embed from Getty ImagesI like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.
Ever think about seeds? They seem so simple at a glance – even on closer examination. We typically think of a hard, thin outer shell with a softer inside.
When a group of people sing together, we make up a chorus. When birds do, it’s more like a whole symphony orchestra.
~ Laura Erickson, The Bird Watching Answer Book
There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.
~ Robert Lynd, The Blue Lion
breezes at dawn 