Madison Monday: Week of Winter Walking Wrap-Up

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trees in winter

Focusing on how different these trees will look for my Week of Summer Walking

I’m still recovering from my Week of Winter Walking and took yesterday off for my birthday, so Madison Monday this week is actually Madison Tuesday.  If you missed any of my walks, or would just like to revisit them, you can check out the list at the bottom of this post.

I started the Week of Winter Walking because I was on break from teaching and to help get me through the last week of February.  Also because I felt I needed to move around some more.  Part of me might have also been hoping that heading stalwartly out into a week of winter drudgery would have the magic power to summon spring.  Well, this week has proven that belief misguided.  March is  in like a lion this year, with 3-5 inches of snow forecast overnight.

So, my walking did not successfully conjure up spring.  Sorry.  It did introduce me to some new and interesting places around Madison.  I especially liked the Hatcher Hill walk.  There was something deeply satisfying about being able to move on foot between the worlds of downtown Madison and the hilltop.  When you live in a river valley, it’s easy to forget that the distance between the places on top of the hill and those in the valley aren’t really that far as the crow flies.  But that incline can make all the difference in the world.  Because I am mildly obsessed with preparing for the apocalypse (not the Biblical kind, but the environmental or technological collapse kind), I found myself comforted by the fact that even if we lost the ability to use cars, we would still be able to travel out of downtown.  Whether or not that is a good thing is a question only an actual apocalypse can answer.

My body did feel better at the end of my Week of Winter Walking, though there were some rusty spots that had to be worked out.  And by “my body,” what I mean to say is that I felt better after moving around.  One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my old age (I just had another birthday, putting me one year closer to old) is that the things you do for your body are things you do for yourself.  I am so over the whole mind/body dualism.

I recently read a post called, “making time not to think,”  about the importance of not-thinking to creativity.  The longer I plug away at this whole writing gig, the more I realize that some of my best writing happens when I’m not actually writing.  Sometimes it’s when I’m knitting.  Sometimes doing yoga.  Sometimes laying in bed at night. Sometimes doing the dishes.  Sometimes walking.  Going for a walk and paying attention to the things you see is a great way to not-think.  And though it might sound ironic coming from a person who’s blog is called, “You Think Too Much,” the not-thinking is pretty important.

On the whole, then, I declare the Week of Winter Walking a success!  Especially as it motivated my mom to write, something I have been urging her to do for years.  I’m thinking this is just the beginning.  Who knows what might be next?    The Week of Spring Seeds?  A Month of Music?  The possibilities are endless.  What would you like to see me tackle?

The Week of Winter Walking Posts

P.S. You Think Too Much recently made #2 on the Madison Indiana Observer’s list of the Top 10 Blogs in Madison.  Not too shabby.  Thanks to the folks at the Observer for the shout-out.  You can check out the rest of the list, here.  Some of these I’ve read, and some of these I have not, but it’s a good sampling of just some of the blogging going on around town.

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