A Walk To Really Remember

When I say really, I mean really. In a very unexpected and absolutely bewilderingly surprising turn of events, I - the one and only - have been spotted walking outdoors. Yes, me with my life-threatening fear of bugs and absolute disinterest for the outdoors. It's nothing short of a miracle.

I promised myself to get serious about losing all that weight I've gained over the past year or two when I wrote out my resolutions for 2023 and I'm very proud to say I have been staying strong and keeping up with that promise so far. See, if there is ever a time when a person like me can walk outside, it is now when temperatures are low (even though Winter deceived me this year ... hmph!) and the bugs aren't out, and most humans aren't venturing outdoors either because who gets out during the Winter season right? When everything and everyone else is indoors or gone away ...

Enter Saraallie. Spotlight focus.

I've been spending an hour walking on my deck in the backyard. Yes, yes, I literally go from one side of the deck to the other and repeat on a loop. I've had several people joke about it on my Insta. I know it's funny and not what people usually mean when they say they are walking outdoors for an hour. Hear me out! It is the best option for me; I stay away from the grass where the horrors of the creepy crawly world lurk undetected by my innocent unsuspecting eyes, the deck is big enough to not be a dizzying loop, and I stay protected from the dogs of the neighborhood. We have some crazy dogs in our neighborhood that bark mad at you as soon as they see your peaceful face. It gets the job done, I do a fast paced walk so I get my heart rate up, I tire myself, and I see some kind of weight loss actually happening so it's all good.

Speaking of dogs though, there is just one little not-so-little issue even in my own backyard. The neighbor's dog. That animal needs to be controlled, I swear. A few times so far they let it out on their deck, with NO leash in sight, and it decided to bark insanely at me. So I'm walking in my peaceful personal space, enjoying myself, and suddenly I hear the dog barking murder at me and I jump out of my skin and hide behind the little privacy wall on the deck. It stays there, poking its head from between their deck's fence, staring straight at me, barking its brains out. Oh and they have a very annoying sounding dog too. Its bark isn't the big dog bark like Spike from Tom and Jerry. No. This one is something between a squeak and a howl and it's shrill enough to shake my bones with fear. And it looks like a dirty mop which nobody ever cleaned. Hmph! Ugly, mean, rude, evil dog! Without a leash! Ugly, mean, rude, evil, leash-less dog! I have to pause my walk's timer and stay hidden until he goes away to save my life. Once, I've had to hide for straight ten minutes because it just wouldn't give up. So many people on Insta have told me I need to report the dog, but I know mama wouldn't dare cross the neighbor so I stay bullied by the dog. I wonder, can dogs jump high enough to climb over my fence? If you don't hear from me ever again, the answer to that question was YES.

My other concern is the weather. I can't fathom the torture it would be to walk outside once it starts getting warmer. The bugs will be out and only of us can be outside at a single point in time. My fear of bugs is possibly worse than my fear of the evil dog. I die at the sight of a tiny house fly. How will I walk outside when Spring and Summer bring the sinister dragonflies out? I won't even begin to talk about the spiders. THAT would be the death of me.

But I also resolved to take a day at a time when I wrote my New Year's Resolutions. So let's not worry about later right now. For now, I walk outside, in my peace (minus the dog). It is an hour of alone time. For someone like me, who is surrounded by Muggles who can beat the Dursleys at their own hate game, an hour to myself is a blessing. I am still struggling to find something to play in my ear phones so I'm not bored to death because nature-watching isn't one of my hobbies for sure. I tried a couple of podcasts but haven't yet figured out if they are for me. I also decided to try audiobooks and started off with Geoff Castellucci's narration of The Little Mermaid from his YouTube. After listening to that man narrate, I haven't been able to bring myself to try another audiobook. I don't think anybody will be as good as him. But Geoff Castellucci is a whole other discussion for a whole other VERY lengthy blog entry. *Winks* A couple times, when he or his band VoicePlay released a new track, I tried that out. But my quest to find something to hook on to and listen to during my walks continues. If only Castellucci could do a podcast ...

It's been a great experience so far and I can finally see why people walk regularly - i.e. people who fear no bugs or dogs and can deal with the outdoors. It's been very calming for my brain which has, over the past few weeks, decided to put me in a spin and go rogue. The walks and the peaceful hour keep it in check. Best part about it is that I do see myself losing weight. Gradually, yes, but it is happening. Something is. For sure. And that makes me very very happy!

So I'll enjoy my walks, while they last, and I really hope they do even during the Spring and Summer season. Though I am not sure how I'll survive that, I can still hope, right?