For the final dark month of winter, I decided that my challenge should be something to keep my spirits up and get me out of my yearly funk. Enter, walking.
It’s cheap, it’s easy, and if you’re lucky enough to have two functioning legs you probably do it all the time anyway.
I knew that this would be a good way to spend March, because I find it so dreary and difficult to get through, but I didn’t realize just how impactful walking everyday would be. This was the first winter in years that I can remember the end of it as something more than just one long, dark day after another. I’m not trying to be negative, but winter really wears me down and I have begun to dread it loooong before it arrives. This past year I began to think about it near the end of August and for the entire fall I kept thinking, “this will be the last nice day, enjoy it.”
I don’t know if it was the daily walk outside or just doing a monthly challenge that kept me flying high but either way, I couldn’t be happier. That dose of fresh air and exercise can’t be beat.
An unexpected bonus was that I got to see the seasons changing. While March seems like one dark hole, there is actually a lot of change in nature that I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been getting outside daily to see it. On more than a few snowy mornings I was the first person in my local conservation area, and seeing all the tiny footprints and hearing all the animals move around was amazing. I also came across a dead deer, but that’s the circle of life I guess. Like most things, winter has a lot of activity and beauty once you start looking for it.
Takeaway: Next winter I am challenging myself to walk every day, the entire season. It’s the type of thing that you need to get ahead of because once the winter funk takes you there is no going back.
The Avery Spectacle 