Yesterday I went for a long walk. I walked more than five miles. This was the first meaningful walk I have made this year. My exercising has primarily been on an elliptical and stationary bike in 2024.
My reasoning for staying indoors to exercise has been based on either the temperature outside or the number of allergenic pollens in the air. At least that is what I have been telling myself.
The truth of the matter is that I think I would have gone after my usual walking trail long before now, had I been able to call my Aunt Barbara. I can’t do that anymore. By now in years past, I could have told you how the Ole Miss Baseball Team was doing. Aunt Barbara kept me in the know. We’d talk about the Paul Finbaum Show and how long she listened to it that day before she had to turn it because it was sounding like “silly mess” to her.
I’d talk to her and walk and walk some more. Then when I was done, I would write something like this and put all these pictures on here. The next time we talked, we’d talk about the pictures on here. Those times never got old. I miss them. I miss talking to her. Aunt Barbara is in poor health somewhere in Mississippi. When I think about that, I am in poor health too.
So, I need to keep moving. I need to keep walking. That five mile walk I made yesterday was seemingly waiting on me. I needed it. I talked to my mother while I was walking until the wind got too bad. Then I listened to music. I enjoyed it all.
Who wouldn’t enjoy walking around all this natural beauty?
The Spring is always a nice time. But I was thinking about something. As I was walking and looking at all the new green popping out in the warm weather we have been treated to of late, I thought about the fall. I thought about how fleeting that special season is when the leaves are changing and the yellows, reds, and browns of autumn give us a settling comfort for just a while that is never enough.
Yes, my walking trail is special. I walked for five miles and saw two cars in the process. I am going to keep walking. I am going to keep moving, however lonely it may seem at times.
A little while ago I watched Scottie Scheffler win his second Green Jacket in two years, as he won the Masters Golf Tournament today. I enjoy golf. There is so much grace and honor to it. No other sport personifies grace and goodness like golf does. Players don’t act like they are running for public office when they make a nice shot. They know a clunker is waiting in the weeds for them. You know, like the shots you and I make. They make them once in a while too. Class lives in golf.
I know I go on and on about Justin Hayward around here. A few days ago, I listened to John Lodge’s live album that he recorded in 2017 apart from The Moody Blues. This is a nice record. It was recorded in Birmingham, England’s Town Hall. This was the same place Lodgy saw Buddy Holly when he was a kid in 1958, just 11 months before the Day the Music Died.
On this day on 2018, The Moody Blues were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The last concert the Moodies played was in November of 2018. It was in a hotel ballroom near San Diego. The gig was in support of a local charity. That was the last one. No great fanfare. No great goodbye. Just a gig in a room with a low ceiling with a small crowd for a good cause. That’s poetry.
The latest edition of the North Harrison High School Hodgepodcast was a great time. Thank you for being my guest, senior Vicki Moorman. We spoke of many literary pursuits and her future plans at Manchester University. I was impressed with this young lady.
Have a great week all.
Speaking the rights…
Danny Johnson
