I walk around the lake to wake up my cells and strengthen my heart and all the other good things walking does. Yet the walk always gives more than that. Just to be inside the unconditioned air is a natural pleasure too often missing from my common day. To socialize with the sights and sounds of nature as both observer and participant is as perfect as it gets when allowed to simply happen.
I wonder if the geese and ducks and gulls walk and paddle and fly for their health? Of course, I think, mostly to accomplish their survival needs, like eating—and that’s for their health. But sometimes they seem to enjoy flying for the fun of it, the joy of it—and to practice. The gulls are especially good flyers—show-offs sometimes, impressive to me, an admiring (envious?) flyer of machines. I often wonder if any of them wonder about us.
It's winter. Bare-limbed trees (except the evergreens) display their singularly different, sometimes intricate silhouettes, their limb structures so clearly displayed against the still-lit quiet eventide sky, reveal their heritage—their family characteristics.
I am awed by the diversity and beauty of it all even in this small park. Then there is the ever-fascinating activity of people watching … and sometimes meeting. The park is a good place to visit.