Tag: morning walk

Eye catchers

Groovy glasses

My eye was caught by this picture (above) in a gift shop this morning. You could have a lot of fun decoding the messages in it.

As I walked home these signs caught my eye.

Even if you made it to the gate in 5 seconds it was wide open and the fence would be very easy for a dog to jump.

At the end of the street is a nice piece of roadside planting which could win the prize for best berm. It slopes down to a little wooden bridge over a creek. When I had dogs, they used to love running down and investigating the creek and shrubs on our walks. On the railing of the bridge I spotted two 50c coins with the ship Endeavour on one side. I liked the old large version of this coin.

Speaking of walking the dogs, this van pulled into a driveway in front of me and a woman, who looked fit and weatherbeaten, unloaded a shaggy brown dog.

On the other side of the road my eye was caught by these two flags on neighbouring houses:

On the left is the Hundertwasser flag and on the right is the United Tribes of New Zealand flag which dates back to the 1830s. Along with the Māori flag, it featured in the recent hīkoi mo te Tiriti.

At home, I looked at my collection of coins from here and around the world, but did not find one of the old 50c coins, just the old 20c coin, a 1936 penny (British), a 1945 penny and a 1947 half penny.

I used to wear the Japanese coins on my shoelaces as was the trend when I was in Japan. Apparently, there were holes in the middle of the coins so they could be threaded on string for safekeeping. The Danish coin has a hole so blind people can distinguish one coin from another. This made me think of the many things which could not catch my eye if I were blind.

Downloading the tree app

It was great to take a morning walk today. I had breakfast to look forward to when I got home as a reward: porridge and frothy coffee and the morning paper. I was surprised to find that the walk in itself was a reward, especially the cool shade of large trees in the park and on two tree-lined streets. Other rewards I hope for from regular walking are better circulation, improved mobility and improved health generally. I zip about quite quickly on the whole, but when I get up from a chair or sofa I can find my muscles have seized up a bit.

Yesterday, I nearly signed up to another few weeks of the Better Me app with its plan of exercise and diet, but I stopped myself, realising that it would take away my self-efficacy. I had to do it for myself, rather than fall into the psychological trap of paying for something and then waiting for a miracle. A morning walk and a smaller portion of porridge is a start.

Later, when I took Mum to the doctor, the waiting room had this picture on the wall. Even the inevitable screen found in waiting rooms had a ‘nature break’ with images of natural scenes. Those scenes were from around the world, but the one on the wall facing me was a local park in Spring.

Just looking at it was calming and I felt the restorative power of trees.