The Montana High

This picture was snapped yesterday on my walk.

It was one of my Montana High days. I have them often. It's unexplainable but I'll try. A feeling wells up inside of me and I love everyone and everything. It must show because I can feel this love radiate from everyone I meet. It feels as if a mutual ethereal love bounces back and forth.

No coffee, no drugs (don't think I've ever taken a prescription in my life), no bi-polar and just because I make the "gooseberry" I don't drink it. :)

I try to walk on earth (never cement) and far from auto exhaust. I don't need to be walking to feel this but I have the time to analyze my feelings while walking. I've heard the expression "Runner's High." Is that what I experience? (although I'm not actually running?) I've read endorphins are released in the brain and it feels like a shot of morphine. Let me say, this is not a new feeling but I've become more aware of it lately.

Bloggy friends.... any ideas? Do you experience this sensational, loving feeling too? Jeepers, if everyone felt this, there WOULD be world peace.

The Priorities

My Goodness. How do you arrange your life so you get all the fragmented parts to come together? I can't. I have to prioritize and the left-overs fall by the wayside.

My number one priority is my 5 mile walk every day. I walk with Cody in the doggie park in the rolling hills of the lower part of the mountains. There is a bonus. Cody and I can drink the pure natural well water from a pump. It's so wonderfully cold after a hot walk.

The air is free of carbon residue and breathing is a pleasure.

Marilyn is back in San Diego after an eventful summer's tour with the Gypsy Wagon. Her bed here, is stripped and sheets in the laundry. I miss the pleasant days we had together but we have our own lives tugging at our hemlines. And there is next summer to look forward to.
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The 2nd priority is Cody's dog food.
She was out of the stew and I had to cook a huge batch for the freezer.

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My 3rd priority is getting choreography and dance lessons together for a Country Two-Step class.
Not my favorite dance (by far) but this is Montana and that is what people want, so ....... far be it for me to push "ballroom" on them. (And a quick, quick ..... slow, slow) I'll take videos at the 1st lesson and at the 6th and show you the improvement.

This takes up all my time. Not much left for anything else. How are you doing with your priorities?

The Walk

A doggie park is the scene of my five-mile morning walk. It's gentle switchbacks, by no means menacing, can still provide a challenge to an elderly person. Such was the scene I encountered today.

The white-haired older couple and their yellow lab started out at the trail head. We exchanged "good morning" pleasantries, as is the habit when meeting other walkers. I remember thinking, "What a sweet older couple," as we headed out on opposite trails.

On my 2nd lapse, I met the older woman far ahead of the man who was standing on one of the steeper climbs. The woman's sweet demeaner had been replaced with acrid annoyance as she would walk a few steps and look back with an icy glare at the old man. Immediately I got the picture, she resented the fact that he couldn't keep up with her. When I reached the man, he was pale and very still. I could almost hear his racing heartbeats. I smiled and said "Hello again," but he remained breathlessly silent.

As I put distance between us and saw the woman moving still farther ahead, I remember thinking, "This park is really too much for that old man. They should go to a flatter park." My thoughts raced on, scooping out the whole picture. Women that age rarely ever worked, but were free to enjoy their clubs and social life while the husband took on the work burden to provide a comfortable home for the family. Probably chained to an office job that shouted out a life-time of nutritionally poor lunches, lack of exercise and loads of stress, it all took it's toll on the man's health.

All too often women that age forget to honor the man who provided them with a comfortable life. What would it have cost her to wait with her husband and encourage him as he regained his breath. Oh well, it was their pattern of life and I tried not to think about it.

I did think about the glorious mountain air and how lucky we were to live in this magical spot in the universe. And finally, I thought about the cool drink of water I would have from the pump at the trail's end.