Ode to the wanderers

Not all who wander are lost.

J.R.R. Tolkein

Friday and Saturday of this vacation were spent walking. That might sound boring, but it can never be so when there are so many places to walk: the beach on the national seashore, the rail trail, the beach in Orleans, the gardens around Highfield Hall, an outdoor shopping mall, the beach beneath Chatham light. Not a dull moment.

I have always loved walking. My bestie Maryellen and I used to walk our neighborhood after school every day when we were growing up, and we still love to walk State Street together – or whatever’s walkable when we meet for lunch. I walked the campus at every university I’ve attended or worked. While I didn’t do it often enough, I did get out for walks during lunch hours at other places of employment, too – around Hartford, and Philadelphia, and Wilmington, and the wooded path around Vanguard.

These days, my daily exercise is a walk in my neighborhood, or sometimes at the Wilmington Waterfront or Old New Castle. I love walking Longwood Gardens and take Roma there when I can. And of course the best walk is a walk on the beach when I can make a day trip – any beach will do, but I love the sound of crashing waves that you get on ocean beaches.

We know, of course, that walking has health benefits. It also helps you to think, to learn, to relax. Walks are for ruminating, problem-solving, daydreaming, contemplating, pondering, creating, decision-making, agitating, exorcising, remembering, planning, self-talking, and deep breathing. And when you can be outside in fresh air and natural scenery, it’s a mini-vacation anytime. So three walks a day over the last several days in the beauty of Cape Cod spring is indeed vacation with a capital V.

Here’s where my feet took me over the last several days.

Marconi Beach

The wave action was relatively (unusually?) calm, and I took an hour-and-a-half walk here. This is one of my favorite beaches in the National Seashore.

• 

• 

Have you ever just sat and listened to the waves rolling in, it is like an orchestra, beautiful relaxing music.

Catherine Pulsifer

Rail Trail in Harwich

The trail here runs between Seymour Pond and Long Pond.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Exploring the world is one the best ways of exploring the mind, and walking travels both terrains.

Rebecca Solnit

Nauset Beach

Lovely sunset walk, but the beach faces east.

• 

• 

Every time I stand before a beautiful beach, its waves seem to whisper to me: If you choose the simple things and find joy in nature’s simple treasures, life and living need not be so hard.

Psyche Roxas-Mendoza

Highfield Hall and Gardens (Falmouth)

Not quite what I expected, but a lovely stroll nonetheless.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.

Rumi

Chatham Light Beach

Chatham is on the ocean, but I forgot about the barrier island… lapping wave action here, but I could hear the waves crashing on the far side of the barrier.

• 

• 

The beach to me is a sacred zone between the earth and the sea, one of those in-between between places where transitions can be experienced – where endings can be mourned and beginnings birthed. A walk along the beach offers the gift of the unexpected.

Joan Anderson