Winter Walking

When I was walking with Jackson the other day, near Northfield Park, a man in an over-sized pickup stopped and rolled down his window, leaned out, and thanked me for picking up after my dog. (I guess it was obvious that the translucent bag dangling from my hand contained Jackson's poop.) I think I raised my mittened hand in acknowledgement before he continued on his way.

I didn't quite know what to think about that unexpected interaction, because I was just doing what I always do.

No matter the season, whenever I walk with Jackson, I always tie a couple of plastic grocery bags onto Jackson's leash before we set out. After Jackson does his business--usually two or three times each walk--I put my hand inside a bag to pick up his poop, turn the bag inside out, and tie it at the top. Then I carry the bag in the same hand as the leash until I toss it in a convenient trash can along the way.

In the winter, the hardest part of the whole process is untying the bag from the leash with my gloves on. This Christmas, Bill bought me a new pair of convertible mittens so I don't have to remove them entirely to untie a bag or use my phone when I'm walking. Since my unprotected thumbs, and sometimes fingers, crack easily when exposed to the cold, dry air in our region, I have been thrilled to wear my new, warm mittens.

Sometimes I pick up litter as I walk, and add it to one of my bags, but there isn't usually much trash on the ground in the winter. Any time of year, though, if Jackson and I are walking alone, I am likely to listen to my daily Bible reading on the YouVersion app on my phone. That's the other reason my new mittens work so well for me: I can remove only one finger from my mitten, just long enough to start and stop the Bible app. Then, as long as my phone doesn't die due to cold weather conditions, I can finish my Bible reading as I walk.

Jackson doesn't care about any of this, of course. He just trots along beside me, stopping only when he needs to relieve himself or sniff some other dog's leavings. If the weather is too frigid, he wears a coat, and Victoria even bought him booties for his feet so he can walk comfortably on snow and ice. Right now, though, he is due for a haircut, so Jackson probably won't need his coat until after that happens next week.

In the winter, I am not likely to walk my self-appointed 10,000 steps on cold, windy days. So, I have to be content to reach that goal only two or three times a week, even when I supplement my outside walks by using my strider in the basement media room.

I think it was Erin who recently told me that experts now recommend only 8000 steps as a reasonable daily goal for most people, so I'm going with that, at least for the winter.

Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. 

1 Timothy 4:8