Monday Moods: Take a Walk

I got out for a walk Four times last week, to just take a walk. I needed that. 

Huntley Meadows is a couple of miles south of us, about 300 acres that started out 100 years ago as an airport, and airship port. During World War II it was filled with radio communications devices, the nature of which are still classified. After the war it was used for crash testing by the National Highway Safety Administration. Then it sat empty for a decade or two, and then was transferred to the County as a park. It is heavily wooded, with water flowing through it. The trails are well built and maintained, there is a long boardwalk over a large pond.  

Then I went into the City, for a stroll through the National Gallery of Art, then down across the Mall to the subway at L'Enfant Plaza. The Sculpture Garden at the Hirshorn is nearly finished, new pieces are being installed. 

Then I went down to Dyke Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. This is the swamp walk that kept me active and sane during COVID, I did this walk over 300 times in one year. It was clear, cool, and the trees are clearly showing end of the summer colors. 

And just out and around the neighborhood. 

The walks did my mood a lot of good. Fresh air, sunshine, art, and beauty. I walk in silence, no phone, no earbuds. I am always surprised by what I see, because I hear it first. Time alone with my thoughts. I highly recommend a silent walk.