Return to Land of the Living

I managed to get my sickly self out of bed.  I had incentives.  Children to see off to school.  Dogs to walk.  I am determined to show this cold or flu or doomsday plague who is boss.  Knowing I was sick, my friend had just requested that I drive over to her house to just let her dog out but my husband had the van.  If I was going to make the effort to walk over to her house I might as well take the time and walk the dog.  Truth be told, I feel better for it.  Sometimes just getting up and moving around and getting back into the routines is all it takes to feel human again. 

Despite the icing sugar dusting of snow, it was surprisingly mild today.  Dark gray sky.  It was a very quiet time this morning, not much in the way of traffic even though a good chunk of my walk takes me along two very busy streets.  Both dogs were quiet as well.  There is an older gentleman that sometimes watches for us and comes out and greets the boys, but we did not see him today.  I ran them through our regular haunts and they sniffed and nosed through the whole route much quicker than usual.  It had originally been my plan to take them to a different park today but I needed the van to get there, so it will have to wait for tomorrow.  I think they're bored and my poor guy hasn't been seriously walked in a week so he needs some good exercise.  I know that I certainly am feeling the need to expand my horizons a bit as well.  So tomorrow and the day after, if the weather holds (it's calling for snow - hoping that passes us by) there will be some new sights for me and the boys and for you too.   Today, I discovered a hidden alleyway tucked between two highrise apartment buildings.  Leading through a neglected park, it connects to a more upscale street which leads to my house, creating a considerable shortcut between my friend's house and mine and certainly creating a more peaceful walk away from the bustle of busy traffic.

In the coming weeks, I'll be posting a series of entries on hiking along the Humber River.  Over the past summer, I managed to cover the whole river's path within the City in segmented walks, with the exception of one small segment in the north of the river.  Next summer I'm planning an attempt to do it in one fell swoop, but that's another trek and blog all on its own.  I also did a number of Discovery Walks and I'll put together a few entries on those as well.  A recent EyeWeekly story on walking in London, England, brought back some memories of my own visit there.  Hard to believe it was almost a year ago and I'll try to post a few reflections and pictures from my time there.