It's a process, every day, taking those steps and watching them add up.
Yesterday, they didn't add up so fast because I spent a couple of hours sitting on the lawnmower.
Unlike some lawnmowers, which give the operator credit on the Fitbit for turning the steering wheel, my zero turn requires no effort other than sitting there, thus no cheating steps awarded from my Fitbit.
So, last night, after taking several hundred steps leading three horses up from pasture, I headed right back to the hay field for an evening walk.
The steps aren't easy out there cuz the ground is rough, and it's easy to turn an ankle in small depressions pretty much anywhere around the field.
While walking the hay field, I also take great care to avoid walking over piles of horse apples.
After all, old feet and legs will come up with any excuse to conjure up an injury.
The steps did add up, however, and with a couple rounds of the field, my Fitbit said I was nearing my daily goal.
Usually, it's 20,000.
Yesterday, I settled for 17,000.
I've heard that Fitbits can be an obsession, and I agree.
In my mind, this sort of obsession can't go too wrong.
After all, as the steps mount up, so do a lot of other positive aspects of a healthy life.
I am obsessed with the steps taken each day for many reasons, including staying as physically fit as possible.
The consistency of daily walking pays off whenever we take off on an outing and actually go on a hike. No shock to the system because the system has been operating.
This walking also gives me time to observe the world around me, both closeup and from afar.
Last night, changes in the sky were particularly notable. I entered the hay field with blue sky and some billowy clouds.
By the time I left the field, a great portion of the sky had turned to a hue halfway between pink and orange, especially to the Southwest.
Once back in the house, while sitting on the couch with a Fitbit full of daily steps, I saw more reminders of how walking is good for the soul, the mind and the body.
PBS was showing a BBC documentary on the Camino de Santiago, which has become a household word here since Annie first began walking her Caminos, with three pilgrimages now totaling about 800 miles.
Wonder how many Fitbit steps that is!
Though we knew most of the attributes of the Camino from following Annie's adventures, this documentary offered a unique perspective from the pilgrims who talked about and observed life as they took step after step after step through Northern Spain.
They talked about their perspectives on religion or lack there of. They talked about how they were seeing changes in themselves as they moved on down the road.
They also talked about snoring and how to combat it when one snorer of the group always went to sleep before the others.
As he slept soundly through the night in his bunk bed , the rest of his group tossed and turned in theirs trying to grab whatever sleep they could.
One night, when the group decided to sleep out under the stars, they asked him to put his bedding as far away as possible but close enough to still be a part of the group. He complied.
It was fun to watch the documentary and wonder if, at our ages, Bill and I could ever tackle such a challenge. We probably won't and will be happy to live any future Caminos vicariously through Annie.
But we'll keep on walking and taking step after step after step as long as we can.
I will admit that all this walking at our age doesn't make getting up out of chairs or cars any easier.
We are beginning to look like oldsters as we always have to take a minute to remind those knees and legs what they're supposed to do once we're in an upright position.
Still, I tend to believe that every step taken extends life and the enjoyment of the world around us.
And, so the Fitbit obsession will continue.
Walking, in my mind, is one of the great elixirs of life, and as my daughter says, a great way to really see the world.
Happy Tuesday.
Only 3,418 steps. I've got work to do.
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