Walking Again

So I find myself walking every day, wishing I could be running, but trying not to lose any fitness in the meantime.  The visual acuity in my right eye is gradually returning.  At first it was like this:

But day by day it clears more and more, and my left eye is already nearly 20/20.  So what a beautiful, clear world it is as I walk and walk and walk around Highlands!

I realize, as I did back in February and was also relegated to walking, that there is an entirely different perspective for a walker to discover.  The world does not whiz by (although that may be an exaggeration at my pace these days) so much as it approaches in stately procession.  These beautiful rhododendron, right on our regular running route on Smallwood Avenue near Harris Lake, are just arresting in their beauty:

And I was able to get off of Horse Cove Road, where I am accustomed to running right down the middle, and walk on this quiet, shady pathway instead. ducking my head often to pass under low-handing branches.

Who would even know that this pathway exists?  Perhaps a runner should deliberately take at least one day a week and simply walk where he normally runs, looking at the world in a more intentional and mindful way, appreciating its beauty at a slower and more close-up perspective.

And are there any city runners out there, stumbling upon this blog, green with envy?  Yes, I am thankful that I live here in Highlands, and don't have to pound the sidewalks alongside busy streets.