Month: February 2023

On Today’s Walk: The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

I don’t have a photo of my own from today’s walk, only a tale of shame. I live in a fairly tidy neighborhood, but I do sometimes see a little trash here and there in my pedestrian travels, especially in the park and around bus stops. Today, I decided to be a good citizen and clean up as I went along. I packed a small trash bag in one jacket pocket and a disposable glove in the other so I could gather up litter in addition to getting exercise.

The problem is that I forgot my self-assigned good deed almost immediately. I simply made my merry way up and down the familiar streets of my community, enjoying the fresh air. Right up until I arrived home and put my hand in my pocket to retrieve my door key. There was the trash bag, unused. Even worse, I no longer had the disposable glove. It must have fallen out onto the ground somewhere along my two-mile route.

Instead of reducing the litter along our sidewalks, I actually added to it. So that was a big fail. Maybe I can go back out tomorrow and redeem myself.

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On Yesterday’s Walk: Round White Object in the Sky

Nearly full moon in clear blue daytime sky.
Nearly full daytime moon

Oh, you thought I meant the Chinese spy balloon? Well, that went over my neighborhood yesterday, too. It was visible up high as I entered the grocery store. So now they know where I shop.

On the radio, I heard someone from the Pentagon saying they wouldn’t reveal the exact location of the balloon, only that it was somewhere near the center of the country. Meanwhile, everyone in my county spent the day announcing the specific addresses where it could be viewed at any given moment. It’s hard to keep a secret of any kind these days.

When I bundled up later and took a walk in the cold, clear afternoon, a different white orb was visible in the sky, this one worthy of just as much attention, even if we are more used to it. What is the moon learning about us, looking down, watching us scurry about our lives? Or is it even interested in human activity? Maybe it’s just monitoring the seas and trees? Who knows?