The Total Femme

This is the extremely comforting thought I had today after I’d taken my poor troubled self out for a walk in the spring air. I had stopped by the vernal puddle* and spied my first wee aquatic creature of the season and that phrase popped into my head. I’m not being sarcastic, I really am comforted by this thought. It puts my worries in perspective and reconnects me to the Bigger.

I had forgotten how much walking is an invitation to a meditative state. It may take an hour, but by the time I’ve walked that long, I’m less twisted up inside my head. If I remember to take my pen and notebook, I’ve had occasion to jot down all kinds of ideas and solutions that have jolted loose.

I will speak of the tyranny of baseball, the difficulties of being the mom of a surly-yet-needy teenage boy, the ups and downs of being a queer activist in the burbs, and the immensity of having a spouse in grad school another time. Right now, I just want to remind you to get outside and have an amble. It will absolutely do you a world of good.

*a very tenacious bit of wetland that has persisted in an abandoned parking lot, despite having been asphalted over. I watch in joy each spring when the indentation slowly fills with water, creatures appear, and cat tails.