Musing

[written and published from south Calgary, near Fish Creek Park]

1C/33F, overcast, we walked the entire length of the ridge this morning; a nice coat of snow on everything but the paved path was wet so traction was our game; nods, grunts and smiles from three owners who could not muster ‘hello’ or ‘good morning’ but their dogs sure wanted to engage in conversation – Gusta mingled with the mongrels, sniffed the terrier and the poodle – the air fresh, invigorating

well yesterday I did – yes, I do read what I write; yesterday’s writing about SC stirred me to some action; I recognized I have not been stretching, have not been walking my own talk

I listened to my own advice yesterday; not just borne of so many times that I’ve been asked 'so why aren't you two together?'; I don't have the answer to that , other than to say, in many ways we've never been apart; though we've each been involved in long term relationships, we've been thousands of miles apart but so much between us never strained (OK, almost never), never broken, never needed to be fixed; some things do but some of them don't seem to matter the same way they did so long ago; rather than thinking about so long ago, I'm thinking about so far left to go

so we talked . . and talked

and talked and talked and talked some more

many delicious moments we can never forget; painful memories too, but not many

I hung up the phone, did some work – then slept easily and smiled as I drifted off; we know each other so well already, but there is so much new to learn

every day I play, rant, pontificate and advise others what to do with emphasis on acting on feelings but often I realize my words are not matched by my actions; I talk a good story but don't always follow my own advice; maybe a lesson to be learned here, or maybe one to be taught; not for everyone but for some is that searching for things can sometimes distract us from incredible things we already have

the passage of time; each 365 ¼ days we count another one; each 10 is a decade and each day could look in the mirror and ask how many of those we have ahead of us, we could wonder how filled (or not) they will be with the good health and good laughter we want, the joy we want, the ventures and adventures, the thrills and spills we want, the vitality we want

it is cliché to say that many people have so much going for them if they would just stop for a minute to realize they already have so many of the things they are so busy looking for; in one way or another I’ve told that to many – many, many times but I don’t recall sitting in front of a mirror when making those comments, telling it to myself

now I have

here is my thought for you – is there someone you are close to but there is distance between you? . . distance can be a hollow tunnel of air down the centre or a bed or it can be thousands of miles or dozens of months . . think about bridging that distance with the same zeal with which we build new bridges to new people and new places

Mark Kolke
225,500
201.8

Responses/comments welcomed; send an e-mail to musing@maxcomm.ca – please give me your feedback.