It's Your Life. Live It!

Winter may have its icy grip across much of the nation in early January, but here in the Desert Southwest, spring has sprung. A mid-morning walk around the neighborhood presented a panoply of sights and sounds that reminded me why we moved here in the first place and generated fresh thoughts on life and how to live it. 

With temps in the low 60s on a bright, mostly sunny day, I set out for my first real walk in nearly a year. Last February, the new Administration dictated that my agreement to work remotely for the Federal government was null and void, which required me to begin commuting to an office on the other side of the Valley of the Sun (more about the ridiculousness of this in another blog soon). My morning walk ritual became a thing of the past, so today’s venture brought back all the joy I used to experience, including the beauty of the landscape and sky above, and time to think.

This walk was different. For one, my previous walks were all pretty early in the morning, either before or just after the myriad morning meetings my job required. This mid-morning, the neighborhood was fully awake. I passed nearly a dozen other walkers and bikers, all willing to give a wave and smile a bright, “good morning!” The pickleballers were getting some final words from a tournament director before heading to their courts, workers were paving sidewalks for a new part of the community, and two softball teams were already at it in the morning sun. Amidst the sounds of the distinctive “plink” of paddles and balls, the drone and “beep beep beep” of construction equipment, and fans and players cheering their teams, birds chirped and warbled.

My mood was further elevated by seeing all these people staying active and celebrating the great weather. A key life goal is to get outside, even if it’s only to read on the patio. I spent 40 years cooped-up in an office environments (even in my own home while remote). Retirement means I finally get to spend more time where we humans were designed to live.

©Judy and Greg Romano – All rights reserved.