Friday, April 13, 2012 I am not a superstitious woman. I have a black cat, I’m short enough to walk under ladders, and when I break a mirror, I simply gather the shards and put them in the trash, wrapped so the trash man doesn’t cut himself as he empties the container. I’m not sure I even thought about today being Friday the 13th when I headed out on my now familiar trail for a longer walk this afternoon.

The sky was grey and white, with clouds that sheltered me from the sun but didn’t look threatening in any way. A light day pack accompanied me, with a water bottle, a granola bar,and a tangerine. My newest pedometer (see previous post) was clamped to the waistband of my pants, and the “don’t lose it” clip was properly clipped. Trying to avoid having to buy a fifth pedometer is my first goal. My next one is to walk for three miles toward the western section of the trail, and then return.

A six mile walk/hike should be challenging enough for this late afternoon. The clouds cast a comforting mood over the surroundings, my iPod carried favorite songs to my ears, and my pace felt easy. The boots are still quite comfortable, and I pay attention to the different moving parts of myself, just noting this and that, a twinge, a click in the shoulder, the regularity of my breathing. Nearly six miles and an hour and three quarters later, I was nearly home. I only noticed my surroundings again when I realized that I had gone past the turn to get to my house. Daydreaming about what? I have no idea, but I felt that ease all the way home, and tried not to get too confident about the distance.

I only noticed the toes on my left foot numbing and shooting little pains intermittently. I guess now I have a new reason to visit my REI second home. Tomorrow, I’ll take my boots and socks and visit Kumar, the shoe expert. One bite at a time . . .