A walk in the park

My long awaited first day off work for the summer finally arrived.

I slept through my early morning yoga class, breaking my vacation resolution less than 24 hours into it. No worries. I decided to head to the Arboretum and do the two mile trek. I hadn't visited the park since last summer. I grabbed my camera and my ever present coffee thermos.

On my way to the Arboretum the sky clouded over so much that I considered heading back home. I persevered and was so glad I did. The rain held off and it was an absolutely wonderful day.


The parking lot was busy. I pulled into a spot and decided to listen to the very last of my audio CD before hitting the path. If you've read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, you might have been as dumbfounded as I was at the ending. But that's a post for another day.

Still thinking about the book, I left the car and started walking.

Once on the trail I retrieved my phone to check for messages. I could see that an incoming message had been rejected. My phone storage was full. That's what the phone said - I didn't believe it. It tells me that every now and then and I'm still convinced it is lying to me.

I removed the sim card from the phone, blew on it and put it back. (I'm technologically savvy that way). Still nothing. Trying to remember what the man at the Verizon store told me to do when this happens, I started pushing buttons, accidentally deleting my entire contact list. Bummer.

Maybe there is a lesson here, I thought. Enough with the multi-tasking. I put my phone away.

I passed a woman with three identical dogs trotting along in perfect harmony. I was pretty impressed. (Put a leash on my dog and she becomes a 13 pound mule in a white fur coat, her feet braced in front and her rear digging into the ground).

People were enjoying their morning walking with friends or pushing strollers. Many people, like me, were strolling alone. I saw one man with a couple of kids. He was texting on his phone. I wanted to warn him that he might lose his memory, but managed to restrain myself.

The variety of flowers was amazing and the sun slanted through the trees onto the path. I stopped thinking about the phone and just enjoyed the morning. The park is truly a treasure and I am thankful for it.

I am also thankful for the young man at the Verizon store who was able to retrieve my contact list later that day!