Let's take a walk

My friend Beth and I just finished our 8th year of walking together on the Fanno Creek Trail. And we are now into our 9th year. We have been friends for a long time and after I quit my 9-5 job we were talking about how we both felt out of shape and lazy and decided we'd try walking together a couple times a week. We soon decided a couple of times a week wasn't going to do much for us, so we each took a deep breath and committed to five days a week.

Seen on this morning's walk—we see something new and beautiful every day

We had no idea we would still be walking together 8 years later. As Beth tells it, we agreed to walk for as long as we had something to talk about. We are still talking and walking and show no signs of running out of conversation. We get our hearts pumping, we watch the seasons change, we have seen bald eagles and hawks and regularly see herons and egrets and wild geese as we trace our familiar route. We have shared a lot, sometimes cried together, but mostly we laugh! For the past year my old friend Paula has joined us and added to the hilarity and good company. We end our walk at Starbucks. I don't even want to think about how much coffee we have drunk together. Several years ago when our Starbucks bought new tables and chairs we figured we had paid for them.

Along the way we have had some adventures, including our guerrilla art protest. We have met some interesting people and a lot of dogs, and have some funny stories to tell. Did I tell you about the time Beth stepped in dog poop and tracked it all over the paved trail? The sun baked her footprints into the pavement and they were visible for weeks, much to her chagrin. Disgusting? Yes, but I have to admit it tickled my juvenile sense of humor and the sight of those memorialized footprints never failed to crack me up.

Our husbands have joined our walks a few times, but generally it is just the "girls." The first time Ray joined us, curious about my enthusiasm for these morning walks, he said, "now I understand. It is more than a walk. It is kind of a religious experience!" I don't know what it is exactly, that keeps us walking, but I do know that when you have friends to walk with and a beautiful place to explore, life is pretty good.