This morning I joined Dr. David Sabgir and his crew for the weekly Walk with a Doc program in Highbanks Metro Park on the north side of Columbus. (Dr. Sabgir was featured in an early issue of WALK! and has contributed some great articles to the magazine since.)

The group meets at 8 a.m. in a shelter way in the back of the park. Sponsors provide coffee, fruit, bottled water and bagels. The participants are friendly and look forward to walking with each other each week.

It was a beautiful morning! Frost covered the grass, wild flowers and weeds. The sun was low and made everything covered with frost sparkle. As the frost melted, the fall leaves glistened and the colors were fantastic!

Though it was just 32 degrees when the group met, it wasn’t really cold. I’m sure the fact there was no wind helped it feel less cold. (I was comfortable in just a couple light layers without gloves or a hat.) I walked with a very interesting gentleman whose name I’m not sure about. He was very easy to talk to, and together we took one of the slightly longer routes, so I’m sure we went more than a mile.

I’m not much of a morning person. OK, let me rephrase that – I’m NOT a morning person. But after yesterday’s morning walk and today’s even earlier, more beautiful morning walk, I just may be converted.
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Note on this morning’s drive to Highbanks Park. I struggled to wake up this morning, took a shower, had my coffee and granola bar, and hopped in the car with an audio book in the CD player. As I drove up 23 North, I was not really half asleep, but it was about 7:30 in the morning, it was still dark and I was probably not totally alert. I was all the way to Delaware when it dawned on me that I had driven too far! I wondered if the sign had changed or maybe it was missing. I turned around, tried to pay more attention, and ended up at the park at about 8:02. The sign was there, bigger than life, right where it should have been. I must have just zoned out for a minute. Regardless, I hate being late, but I had really tried to get there early. Next time, I’ll have to consume a little more caffeine before getting in the car.

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