Last week I went for a walk/hike on the trails near me.
The treadmill at the gym is fine however I often have the desire to do my exercising outside in nature. I find I am much more ” in tune” outside in nature than inside in the gym…
On my walk/hike I was given the gift of uphills, down hills, bird calls, a small stream to cross, and new spring plants and flowers to smell and admire. So beautiful.
While watching my footing and enjoying all the beauty around me I forget that I’m exercising. It actually changes from work “exercise” to fun and ”play”.
I get my heart rate up, I breathe deeply both in and out, I walk with correct posture, all of the things that go along with good ”exercise”. However I’m having so much fun taking in and being part of the beauty around me, that it is more like playing.
So I’m hiking along, breathing deeply, loving every step and being so grateful for this opportunity not knowing that my special gift of being blessed is coming towards me from up the trail.
I had come to a part of the trail that is almost flat and has beautiful tall foliage on each side and zigzags so you aren’t able to see more than a few yards ahead.
I heard the sound of voices approaching. Soon I could make out part of what was being said, “we are on a family walk”. This was being repeated over and over as if in cadence with the walking. As we got closer (still not able to see each other because of the foliage) I could hear what I learned was the first line of the cadence, but I could not understand it.
The mystery was solved and the blessing showed up with just a few more steps up the trail.
As the owners of the voice drew nearer I moved to a side of the trail so they could pass. This is what I witnessed:
A Dad with a very young child in a child-carrying backpack was in the lead and a woman was directly behind him. The woman was saying “we are on a family walk” and the child would respond with a language only the three of them (and the spirit of love) could understand.
As they passed we exchange greetings and the cadence never stopped. Each step the man would take was setting the timing of the cadence for the child to express glee and excitement of the moment and the woman’s response matched the cadence.
It was such a beautiful scene to be part of. Leading up to this moment had been beautiful with sunshine, birds, different rock formations, different and new growth and the foliage, just beautiful, but it could not come close to the beauty of witnessing the loving exchange between the man, woman and child. I felt so grateful for having been given such a gift to witness.
As the scene unfolded and the family walked past, a memory flooded me with loving emotion and feelings of years ago.
In a backpack very similar to the one I had just seen, I used to carry my daughter. She and I had put a lot of miles together with her on my back, her looking over my shoulder bright eyes of wonder and yes a cadence with every step.
To this day I can hear it as if it happened just this morning. In my left ear I would hear….
“m m m, m m m, m m m”, kind of like when you are thinking and the sound ”hmmm” comes out. The same sound without the ”h” and it kind of went up and down in octave or pitch with every step of mine.
And my response, equally fitting because it made no sense, was part of her nickname. I called her ”bug”. She was the most beautiful and smart baby on the planet but I called her “bug”.
So our cadence was……… “m m m, m m m, m m m”, in my left ear and my response was………..”hey bugga bugga bugga bugga bugga bugga”.
”m m m, m m m, m m m,…..hey bugga bugga bugga bugga bugga bugga……m m m, m m m, m m m,….. hey bugga bugga bugga bugga bugga” for mile after glorious mile.
As I stood on the side of the trail a tear of joy made its way down my face. I watched the family of three pass and then enjoyed and relished in the memory of my lovely daughter as an infant and the many adventures of love and life we had encountered.
I began to ponder. Who is more blessed? The Dad or Mom or young child I had just seen, or my daughter and I as a young child and Dad of years ago, or is the Giver of Love that is so strong it can leap across time the one who is more blessed?