Living at Geos has really increased my activity. I walk for an hour most days now. It’s the Ralston Creek Trail that does it.
I don’t really like exercise. I don’t get that natural high from it that people talk about. I get a mild satisfaction from a job well done, from marking something off my “to-do” list. That’s it. But, walking the trail is nice. It’s quiet. The creek is beautiful. People smile. Sometimes I run into neighbors and have a chat. I listen to an audio book on my phone as I walk. Once or twice, neighbor kids have yelled out “Hey, Tori!” from a half block off as they zoomed up from behind me me on their bicycles. Even a couch potato like me can be won over by that!
These days the trail is brown and white, winter colors. I stay away after a snow. They clear the snow and the sunny areas dry up right away. But, it stays icy in the shady spots for a couple of days. This is Colorado, though, and most of the time it’s dry, sunny, and crisp. The creek bubbles by under green pines and stripped down cottonwoods. The mallards and geese stay all winter. They seem to know when I stop to take their pictures, though, and fly away. And, I go back to my audio book. It’s late winter on the trail.