Portland, Oregon —

For the last couple of months, we’ve been a bit stressed. Just a few extra curve balls that life tosses your way. Medical emergencies with the parents (on both coasts.) Hell, I guess these aren’t really curve balls. We should all expect these situations. And we do. But still, when they arise, BAM, deal with it. NOW.

Oddly, all this drama has given me a new appreciation for that very thing which just about all of us do everyday and we do for a living, walking.

I shouldn’t need to restate the obvious but I will. Walking is the simplest, most beneficial exercise that you can do. All doctors seem to agree, it’s good for your heart, it’s good for your muscles, it’s good for your blah, blah, blah . . . . Annoying but they’re right.

Especially now, while stressed, I savor those 15 minutes or 2 hours when I can step out the door and walk. Whether I have a destination in mind or just let whatever catches my eye steer my course, walking strikes me as free therapy. It never ceases to amaze me what I see while walking that evades my senses when driving or even tooling around on a bike. How can I live in a neighborhood for 20 years and never have noticed that cute Craftsman bungalow nestled back in the trees? Just numb? Maybe, but new details constantly arise even in familiar territory.

Another great thing about walking that surely must be on that doctor’s list somewhere is that it allows your mind to do what it needs to do. Sometimes I’ll notice details like that one above, or rooflines, interesting plantings, the quality of the kids toys left in the yard, unique new house colors that enchant or unique new house colors that offend. Other times I don’t notice anything at all and my mind wanders off in sentimental reverie, to my favorite dining experience in Paris or a Stone’s concert in ’82. Finally, if I have to address a problem or challenge, walking helps me focus better than if I were sitting in an isolation booth.

I’m starting to sound like Andy Rooney here so I better sign off. But before I do, did you every wonder why they package batteries in those impossible to open plastic containers?