Though I started my walking regimen with two other ladies in the park, recently I have started walking alone and much earlier. Now every morning when I get up to walk at 5:00, the sun is still over an hour and a half from rising. It is certainly a solitary time (unless, of course, I can tempt Rick to join me which doesn’t happen often) but it gives me time to think alone and the theory that my brain grasps is that the sooner I start, the sooner I finish. My motivation is simply this: I like to eat and if I want to do more than chow down on lettuce leaves, I need to walk.

For the past two mornings there has been a full moon so bright it makes my walk almost feel like it is at noon. It is still a solitary venture but now I can clearly see the tiny bunnies scurrying around as I pass them.

Much to my surprise, this morning as I headed out for my jaunt there was quite a number of folks already making their rounds around the park. It seems the bright moonlight was drawing other “walkers” out early. I have taken to wearing a pair of headphones which nicely plug in to my FM equipped pedometer. The music keeps me going and the head phones cover my ears, keeping them warm on these cool sunless mornings. As I make my way along the roads within the park every so often I come across yet another walker and we merely exchange a greeting and continue on our ways. By 6:15 my task is done and my day is still early enough that I can relax for a few hours before work. I, the previous night owl for the past 40 years, have become a morning person and I love it. It just goes to show that we are all quite capable of changing no matter how old we are!

Though my days start cold and dark, once the sun does rise, the air warms up rapidly and by noon this is a common site!