It’s been too hot to walk, hasn’t it? Though I’ve spotted my neighbour walking their dog at 5.30am, it’s felt that walking for pleasure was a joke concept. Yet, walking for pleasure was to be had.
Friends who still commute report that this summer hasn’t been too bad, with their air-conditioned cars or train journeys and air-conditioned offices. It’s only trying to sleep at night in a warm house that’s been problematic.
That used to be my life. This summer, however, I’ve been rising at 5am to do outdoor tasks, and have been doing more after 7pm. It’s been a summer of short nights and mornings that often began with the sentence, ‘I was asleep’ when the alarm clock went off.
So where did the walking for pleasure happen? It certainly wasn’t a long walk round the fields in 35-degree heat.
No, I found real pleasure in the short walks that showed that I am no longer a commuter, tied to my desk, life run by meetings, repeating the phrase ‘I’m sure you’re right’, eating sandwiches at lunchtime, and taking advantage of the coffee machine. I’m not in the car at 7am, nor arriving home at 7.30pm.
Instead, one Friday afternoon, a friend asked me to her birthday tea party at 2.30pm. I walked along the road to her exquisitely beautiful home, carrying a plate of cucumber sandwiches, and laughing inside that I really was allowed out at 2.30pm on a Friday rather than hitting end-of-the-week deadlines. Really? Me? Cinderella shall go to the ball.
I found similar joy in walking the short distance to two different friends’ houses. They both have swimming pools. Would I like to come for a swim and cool off? I would. All the physical stress caused by the heat abated, and I walked home lighter, calmer, refreshed.
Obviously, I continue to enjoy the early-morning walks to my friend’s yard, where I am greeted kindly by the horses and poultry. One horse makes a point of walking over, no matter what the weather, bowing her beautiful head and ensuring that I know that I am welcome. How could you resist that?
I’ve walked to buy honey from someone living round the corner, check out hay that a friend had mown in her meadow, and twice-weekly, open and close the church to provide a cool place of sanctuary for visitors.
These may not be long, intentional, fitness walks, but they are the stuff of life and have sustained me during the hot summer months.