coming down the home stretch

Let's just say that perhaps I should have started a bit sooner with this training thing

I go to Target as an "adventure" and a "destination"
I found that it is a mere 14 miles from the house
I will have to go an additional 4 miles on the overnight walk
That is into Gizditch country
Another destination to pick berries
Pounds and pounds of them, but I get there by car
And it takes a full day

So I started the new schedule
Swim one day (2 to 3 miles)
Walk the next (4.5 up to 8)
This is working because I am not working this week
What happens when I go back remains to be seen

Swimming is the easy part
The water temperature doesn't vary more than a degree or two
I would like to believe that there is no sweating involved
And I do believe because I don't get hot and sticky (and please don't tell me otherwise)
The scenery doesn't change much
The regulars get in, swim, get out
Not much chatting (rule one of women over 50: do NOT talk to me when I am wearing a Speedo)
Occasionally there is a jaw dropping swimsuit 
And while it is noteworthy it is a rare occurrence

Walking is different
I am now walking on roads and through neighborhoods
There is new scenery every trek
Some days it is hot and icky
Others it is cool and foggy
At times the wind is problematic
It grabs my hat and I look like I am having a seizure while I attempt to catch it before it lands in the roadway
You would think that as a somewhat intelligent human that I would have tied a string on the damn thing to attach it to my head but that would be too easy and the general public would no longer be able to cheer, honk, wave as they drive by  and have fodder for the morning water cooler klatch

I also find that I think about food a lot when walking
Perhaps because I get hungry 
Perhaps because I am bored
I know I eat when I am bored 
On Monday I designed an entire menu on foods that were growing in yards, on  hillsides and the occasional piece of roadkill
Amaya said she would not eat one thing that I described
I thought that the dandelion and miners lettuce salad sounded very mainstream
Grilled cactus
Lavender sorbet
Raccoon with acorns, bay and sage, probably not so much

I keep changing the route to increase the distance
It gives me more yards to peruse
Yards to return to in the dark of night to take just one small clipping of that really unusual plant
Julie has suggested that it would be better to ask
She is probably correct
Orange jumpsuit don't really suit my coloring

People never cease to amaze me
The runners run
The biker ride 
The walkers walk
Some smile, some nod, some completely ignore the fact that I am present
So I design a fantasy of all of their lives
Based on nothing  more than their looks, carriage, attitude
I am fairly sure that I am wrong 10 times out of 10 but it keeps me amused
I am also fairly sure that most of the people would be stunned by the life I have assigned  them
Perhaps intrigued, but stunned none the less

And all the while I am equally sure that a fair number are creating a story in their own head about me