I chatted with my Beloved in Sydney and swapped goodnight messages by text. I teased my cousin in Greece via facebook ~ some jabs in English others in Greek. And I poured my heart out to a sweet soul in New Zealand who really should have already been in bed, hours earlier.
So many of my dear ones are to be found on the other side of a gadget and its tether of invisible communication. But there are days when written messages give way to real voices, and they rise when I need them most.
Today has been one such day. I walked with a favourite friend through late summer bushland and followed the Yarra River as it bent and streamed toward the city. Together with her dog, we ambled for two hours, speaking our dreams out loud, and whispering our darkest fears as only kindred spirits do.
We formulated winning menus for the day we might enter a TV cooking show, planned the perfect family holiday, and nutted out a plot point in my current book-writing venture, until the midday sun told us it was time to go home.
While the afternoon slipped into the flurry of routine, and fresh words flew around me from those near and far, I still savoured the morning hours where, like our Victorian era counterparts, the face to face, shoulder to shoulder bond of friendship deepened once more.
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| Photo Source - The Murmuring Cottage |
We didn't follow the dusty rules of Victorian walking etiquette. Empty pleasantries were dispatched for the swift unpacking of the previous day's events. We had no walking attire to adjust. No bustle or corset to slow us down. Only Meli the dog, as she wove between us and forged ahead on her short leash.
What a blessing to snatch a few hours for something so simple and so rich as a riverbank walk with a friend. A real balm to my soul, and needed diversion.
How about you? Do you have a walking buddy, or do you like to walk alone and meditate in the stillness of the moment?
Blessings for a wonderful weekend,
Dotti
