to simply be

i used to walk for exercise, oh indeed, a dedicated stride through the village, past the church and the school, along the foreland and along the seaside path which runs behind the garden centre.
if the weather was good, i walked and congratulated myself on my lowering blood pressure, my soon to be vanquished cholesterol and my self discipline... if the weather was iffish ... well, i stayed at home, watched the telly and ate another bar of chocolate!

now, i walk no matter what the weather.
when muni stops to sniff (such a dedicated sniffer), i stop, lift my head, feel the breeze on my face and breath in the salty smell of seaweed or the rather forgettable stench of freshly manured fields, whatever the village has on offer for a particular day!

muni stops a lot and stares ... at what , who knows? the country is an exciting/scary place when you are six months old and your previous home was a kennel, somewhere on the outskirts of london.
today we stopped to stare at the lambs, alone i don't get near them, with a dog companion ... they are interested and inquisitive. i think they feel her youthful energy and are attracted to her.
later we stopped and stared at an absolutely empty field, eventually i started to notice how the short, ungrazed grass was blowing and rippling in the breeze.

i no longer walk to exercise, i walk to look, to breathe, to simply be.