Tuesday, April 17, 2012

An Unprecedented Walk




I took one today, on the beach in Santa Monica. By myself. Unprecedented, as I can't remember the last time I did that by myself. I was reminded, again, why I wouldn't live anywhere else. I snapped some photos from my cell phone, but I did it blindly, squinting into the sun.

The man in the photo below was about a hundred years old and very, very tan. He was wearing a sort of exercise loincloth and was very, very fit.



 I wish I were a surfer. I know I've said that before. Next best is looking at surfers shower and walk off the beach with their boards. I took this over my shoulder, because I was embarrassed to turn around and do it.



Here's a photo for my male readers (Single Dad? Ken? -- don't say I don't think about you) -- and perhaps some of my female ones. Girls in tiny bikinis play volleyball in the middle of a Tuesday morning. I'd love to be able to wear a tiny bikini, but I have no desire to play volleyball.


I thought about a lot of things as I walked from Ocean Park north to the Pier -- how I'm going to arrange everyone's schedule so that I can go out of town this weekend, how I can find another good job to do from home, how I'm going to make exercise a priority so that I don't end up like so many old people do, failing early from lack of activity. I felt the edges of resentment, the clip of it. I took some deep breaths, too, and stared out at the sparkling water, a yellow parachute with a tiny man strapped to it, suspended over the blue. The light was so golden and the sky so wide that I imagined a cartoon of a tiny stick figured woman walking along the boardwalk when a giant mushroom cloud explosion ignites in the background and she throws her arms up and into the sky. The caption reads They'll all be all right.



19 comments:

  1. I'm thinking the same thoughts as you. More exercise. There's too much failing happening over here already.

    They will all be all right. Good for you getting out and taking that walk. Now to follow your example...

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  2. You live in LA where you can exercie outside 95% of the year. No excuses for not exercising. Get in 30min a day starting tomorrow!

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  3. I feel as if you took that walk for me, too. I thank you.

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  4. How could that be anything but uplifting? Gorgeous day.

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  5. That was fabulous! Felt like I was right there having that experience too!

    Thanks for all that :)
    Hope it made you feel lighter, younger, more relaxed.

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  6. Sigh. Sometimes a good long walk is all that's needed, isn't it?

    My grandma loved to walk. She would just walk and walk and walk until her thoughts sorted out. She passed that on to my father and to me.

    Envious, envious, envious of the scenery of your walk, though! All we have here are magnolias, willows, and grass.

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  7. Walking for the mind ...but walking by the ocean fills and clears the mind. What a gorgeous day you had. Perfect blue sky.

    I've been noticing how I am truly not a young woman anymore. It does bother me that I can't run lightly like a see teenagers do. I can' wear shorts, I always wear a sarong with my swimsuit and take it off just as I dunk into a pool. I'm noticing changes in skin that I don't really like. It's a shame sunscreen wasn't around for my teens and early adult years.

    My neck has been an issue this past week which always makes me feel blah.

    So I can complain or I can take it in stride. I am going to keep moving, walking, but I'm also going to enjoy the sights I see when I walk. I'm giving up my gym because I don't like it. I don't want to walk in place and stare at a TV...give me air. Give me trees.

    I enjoyed your post Elizabeth...I've never been to Santa Monica. Maybe this summer if my daughter moves back to the LA area...

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  8. I'm glad you got out on your own for a walk. That blue sky is simply heart-lifting. I am sure you get used to it, but viewed from up North, it is still a kind of miracle to us!

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  9. That mushroom cloud image is fascinating. I get the incredible freedom that would come with surrender. And who doesn't love watching surfers?!

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  10. I woke up with the firm intention to go running today (as yoga or any other activities are out of the question), I put on the sneakers I'd bought years ago and never got a chance to wear, opened the front door, and it started pouring, harder than ever. Are the elements trying to tell me something?! I'm not sure about men in loincloth, I'd have to see it :)

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  11. Glorious California, with such beauty everywhere. I too felt like I was walking with you, thinking your thoughts, which of course I am.

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  12. My favorite line:I felt the edges of ressentment, the clip of it. And then later, like Steve said, the incredible freedom that comes from surrender. Lovely.

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  13. You live on a different planet than I do.

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  14. Such a beautifully clear sky ...
    I know about the exercise thing - getting older puts it into a better perspective though - it's about health, not looks

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  15. Why don't you learn to surf? You have the upper body strength, then you learn how to be in the right place at the right time and that's 95% of it right there. And boom, you'd have your exercise.

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  16. That sky almost makes me blink back tears. Oregonians are not used to that color. What I'd give to see it every day. No wonder you want to stay there. However, we do have more ferns here...in case you like ferns.

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  17. I still feel that edge of resentment. My ex husband left town more than two years ago. He visits Katie but I'm still the go to parent, still feel pressured, still feel like I can just leave. Sigh.

    The beach is lovely though.

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  18. Oops. Still feel like I can't just leave. Double sigh:)

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