Thursday. July 23, 2015. Happy birthday to my husband!
Staring out the window at work I contemplated my walking adventure for the day. The sun was shining, but there was a large black cloud. Rain was not in the forecast for today, what the heck? I packed up my protein shake and cheese sticks and headed out the door…just in time for large rain drops plop on my head. Great. I headed back in and grabbed an umbrella. I wasn’t going to let rain drops stop me. I set my pace and walked briskly out of the courtyard to the street.
My umbrella was pink with “Love is all you need” written all over it. It cheered me up as I made my way to the dreaded intersection. The raindrops were far and few between, so I lowered my umbrella at the intersection and hung it on my wrist. I twisted the blue cap off my protein shake and took a large swallow. The white pedestrian man blinked for me to safely cross and I quickly made my way across the street.
Approaching me was a large group of pre-schoolers with their caregivers, apparently on a little field trip. The children were so happy and smiling. Everyone of these children had Down Syndrome or other handicap and their joy at life encouraged me as I smiled at them. Most of the children said hello to me and I returned it with a cheerful hello and smile. What little precious beings! I wished I could walk with them!
This must of been the pre-school the children were walking from.
Breathing deeply, I turned onto the street Chateau Terrace. It sounded fancy and exclusive! I knew it was a dead end, but found it had many outlets that wound back to my start. Perfect! The street was much like the one I walked down yesterday, with many cute houses and tidy gardens. 
All of my pictures are blurry for some reason. This was a big house with colorful Adirondack chairs.
Today I had my black, flowered back pack on, weighed down with about 5 pounds. Wearing my floral skirt, walking shoes and back pack, I must of looked like a missionary or door to door sales person! No one bothered me though, so it was good!
The rest of walk was very enjoyable as I passed tiny cottage house and big, new remodeled houses. It was so quiet, I could hear the birds singing and planes passing overhead. I remembered to check my pace; I was at .59 miles. Rounding the corner headed back to the brick office building I thought for sure I would hit my goal of 1 mile.
Nearing the entrance to the courtyard back to my office I checked my pace again. I was short! I need .10 to make 1 mile. I headed to back of the building, walked like a crazy person around the parking lot, waiting for my app to tell me I hit the 1 mile mark. Finally, I heard the electronic voice say, 1 mile at a pace of 21 minutes 47 seconds. Now, I could head into work. I made sure to walk a little on the lush, green grass next to my building and then hurried up the stairs into my office.
I’m leaving one pair of walking shoes at the office, so I never have to walk in high heels again!
trailchaser2020 