How are your New Year’s resolutions doing? Are you dieting? Exercising?
The radio announcer wakes me with a temperature better suited to snuggling under the quilt than getting up for a morning walk. Must they give the wind chill?
I pull on my new boots, tug my knit hat over my ears and zip my jacket up to my chin before I step outside. Oh, not as bad as they said here sheltered from the wind on my porch. I step away, and feel fresh, cold air kick the lungs into action. The tread on the boots gets tested where the water crosses the sidewalk and freezes. But in general it goes well, as long as I watch my step and not the sway of tall trees in a winter breeze.
Drivers swish past on their way to work. Electronic signs remind me of time and temperature or name the shops in the small plaza. My breath forms a little cloud that stalls and bathes my face on the next step forward.
Cedars, pines and spruce display a spot of green among the bare browns of their tree companions. Short-haired dogs wear bright coats, (gifts at Christmas?) over their usual white, brown, or black hair.
Winter walk is over. I open the door to a warmer house and the promise of hot coffee.