walk | Kelly's Favorite Things

Let’s walk…it’s not that far.

This morning, I woke up to find a message on Facebook Messenger from my friend, Angela. She and I have been friends for 35+ years. We have been through a lot together. We have changed a lot over the years, but one thing has remained consistent: my need to walk…and walk fast. This was what she sent me this morning:

It will likely happen again this weekend, when she and I visit Tuscaloosa for the Alabama/LSU game. I will say, “Let’s walk down and see our friends! It’s not far!” And off we will go. I’m sure she will be thinking, “Right. Not far.” Add in the fact that I’m fast walker, and she’s a not-so-fast walker. I’m sure she hates it, but I can’t help myself! I love to walk! Until I had sciatica this year, I thought walking was my superpower! Now, I just consider it my superpower that needs to be rebuilt.

Last month, I visited Panamá with my cousin, Patti. I always research a place before I visit, and I had done good research on things to see and do in Panamá City, Panamá. I never overschedule, because really, I’m not a type A personality. I like to go with the flow. I like to fly by the seat of my pants. However, I do like to do at least one cool thing each day on vacation. One thing I wanted to do in Panamá was visit Cerro Ancon, also known as Ancon Hill. It’s a hill just on the edge of the city that offers a great opportunity to see wildlife (toucans, sloths, agoutis, and more), and it also offers a beautiful view of the entire city from one side of the hill. The other side offers a gorgeous view of the Panamá Canal. I had read that it’s not a difficult hike. It’s paved. It’s a gradual ascent.

On day three of our stay in the city, my cousin and I set off early one drizzly morning for Cerro Ancon. We had hired a “bodyguard” to take us anywhere we wanted to go, and he went with us too. The starting point of the hike is at a place called Mi Pueblito, which is a mock village depicting three Panamanian cultures. It’s a cool starting point, and a very sweet gentleman showed us around the mock villages before we started our hike. Then we started “climbing,” which, to me, meant “walking.” I told the cousin, “It’s one mile up and one mile down…no biggie.” That’s what I had read! However, somehow it turned out to be more like two miles up and two miles down, I think…with lots of stairs to climb too. As we walked, I would encourage her by saying, “It’s not much more, cousin.” Then, we would round a curve only to see more road and stairs ahead of us. She would say, “Sure…not much more. Grrrr.” Seriously, I had no idea it was as long as it was, and the more we walked, the madder Patti got at me. I made light of it, but I think she was really mad. We saw several beautiful toucans, lots of agoutis (they look like small capybaras), and at the very top of the hill, we saw a sloth! A real live sloth in the wild! That was my goal of the whole climb…to see a sloth in the wild! Well, that, and I wanted to get photos of the incredible views. Mission accomplished!

For the rest of the weeklong trip, my cousin cussed me for that adventure. She was not happy with her walking cousin, but I jokingly pretended I didn’t notice. I said to her, “Aren’t you glad you did it? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have seen the sloth!” I got a few looks from her, but she has to love me, because I’m her cousin. Plus, she does have one heck of a sense of humor, and thankfully, she laughed at BOTH of us pretty regularly during that trip.

I know we will always have memories of Ancon Hill.

If you’re considering walking any distances, I recommend you wear some good shoes. I prefer On Cloud 5 sneakers. You can purchase them on Amazon here. I take out the factory insoles and replace them with Dr Scholl’s insoles you can purchase from Amazon here. If you need a good travel cane, I recommend this one from Amazon…purchase here. I purchased it in pink when I was suffering with sciatica. I never had to use it, but it was nice to know I had it if I needed it, since I didn’t want sciatica to keep me from doing the things I wanted to do.

**As an Amazon Associate, I might receive small compensation if you purchase through my links.

Spring is here despite coronavirus.

Yes, we’re still all locked down. Coronavirus has disrupted our lives like never before. Every day I wake up and wonder if this is a bad dream. And after I realize it’s not, I take a deep breath just to see if I can. That’s my own personal little test for coronavirus, which I know is in no way scientific, but I also feel like it’s a good way to keep my lungs healthy…wake up, deep breath. And every single day, I’m making sure I do some form of cardio exercise, mostly walking. A couple of times, I’ve coughed, but I realized it was because of all the pollen.

While we hate the pollen in the air, it’s a sign that spring is here! On my personal Facebook page, I’ve been posting a few pictures of the signs of spring here in Charlotte, North Carolina, including pictures of us enjoying the backyard pool in the beautiful sunny weather we’ve been having. However, the picture that got the most response was a set of three photos taken 15 days apart. The first picture, from March 21, shows a barren tree behind our house. The second photo in the set shows the same tree ten days later, March 31, when it was turning green. And five days later, I took the third picture, which shows the tree is lush and green. That’s how fast the tree went from bare to lush…fifteen days.

After I posted those photos, friends who live in colder parts of the country lamented the fact that it’s still cold where they are. A friend in the Chicago area said she wished she were here. A friend in Massachusetts said she wishes she had more signs of spring where she is. At first, I felt a little guilty, but then several of them asked me to keep posting pictures of spring! They were enjoying them!

Many times, a friend in Mobile has reminded me how fortunate we are to live in the south during this coronavirus pandemic and the isolation it’s causing. She reminds me we are lucky we live where the weather is warm most of the time in spring, because we can spend time outdoors. And she’s right. In fact, I think we have enjoyed our patio and pool more this spring than we have in any other previous year. We always enjoy it in the summer months, but I can’t remember a time we spent so much time sitting out in the sun or in the pool in April.

So today, I took a walk around my neighborhood, which is absolutely gorgeous this time of year, if I do say so myself, and I took pictures of signs of spring. You can see them all below, and feel free to share them with your friends who live in other parts of the country that are still cold. Blue skies and bright-colored flowers can certainly brighten someone’s day!

Stay healthy!