the distance they have travelled

When I opened the car door, the smell of newly cut grass mixed with the fragrance of the vetch growing beside the road, welcomed me home from the city. I'd been to visit my brother for a few hours and while the visit was good, I was glad to be home. The dogs welcomed me with the news that they'd like to go outside for a walk in the field. I obliged.

My head was still spinning from the rat race, umm.. I mean the drive home, but soon birdsong and cicadas soothed my mind and the wonderful smells were an elixer. I saw what I think is a monarch catepiller on a tiny milkweed.

These are my mindful moments, and perhaps that is what makes them so wonderful. I notice what is around me and revel in every beauty. Worries and stresses leave my mind for a time.

This morning I was reading back to some blog posts from 2012 where I was writing about all the time I was spending on the treadmill and how fit I was feeling. Hum. That's sure not happening now, but I encouraged myself from all those years ago and got on for 20 minutes this morning. Can I make this a habit?

I dug out my old journal notes from 2012 and could see that I wasn't just on a treadmill kick, I was also well on my way to a decent weightloss. In 6 or so weeks I'd lost over 15 pounds... could I do that again? I'm back to that long ago starting point, maybe I just have to dig out my food log to use for menu planning. I could do this!

So with that in mind (and without the old food log), we just loaded some onions, celery, green pepper, green beans, garlic and hot peppers, along with some dried red beans, diced tomatoes and chicken broth into the instant pot for a healthy, diet friendly, supper.

Lets hope that my 'past' self can motivate my current self. It is sort of like one of those riddels where you write down what you'd say to your future self, only I did it without knowing that's what I was doing.... oh gosh! I'm going in circles.

"We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.” 
~Henry Ward Beecher