Highlands Floorwalker

It is said that Lao Tzu first wrote the famous proverb, contained in Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  It is an especially good saying to keep in mind as I begin my steep climb up the mountain of fitness again with just a single step, and then another step, and another.  I have a long way to go.

I had not anticipated how uncomfortable hernia surgery would be during the first day or two.  A little blood had pooled up under the bandage over my umbilicus, and we drove back to Franklin on Tuesday to have it replaced; Dr. Robles said everything looked fine.  But later in the day, as a large, sensitive bruise began to spread around the area, I realized that I would not be walking the long distances that I had planned this week.  (Runners are famously optimistic.)  But by Wednesday morning, I had improved enough to begin walking around the house.  I even picked up a pair of three-pound weights that Martha uses in one of her exercise programs and did some curls as I walked, round and round the house, curling my arms. 

Today I became curious about the distance I was walking.  (Runners are also famously compulsive about measuring distances.)  So I woke up my GPS watch from its long slumber and asked it if it would like to go for a walk.  Round and round again, out of the kitchen and around the dining room table at a dizzying pace, across the living room, into the sun room to the bay window, back down the corridor past all those photos of my marathon finishes which Martha urged me to display several years ago (and which I sometimes refer to as "The Wall of Dubious Behavior"), and back into the kitchen again:  64 steps.  I was surprised that my GPS watch worked just as well indoors as outdoors; it told me that ten laps equaled 0.12 miles. 

I have a long way to go.  But at least I'm going.