the walk before school

The morning walk before school might be the best habit I adopted from the first lock down. Every single day I arrive to school early enough to go for a thirty minute walk in a lovely neighbourhood of small apartment houses with well-tended gardens, past a little basement bakery spreading freshly baked pastry smell through a half open kitchen door, and through a park with crisscrossing paths between patches of grass, high trees and small bushes. 

I have walked shuffling my feet in the colourful leaves, stuffing my pockets with horse chestnut conkers. I have walked with the wind pulling my umbrella and rain attacking from different angles. I have walked during dark winter mornings, ploughing through snow, my cheeks frost-bitten red. I have walked with the morning light peeking between the houses, smiling when discovering first green buds on branches waking up from almost half year hibernation. 

For the past two weeks I have walked in summer light and warmth discovering beauty on every step. The tiny light green leaves of birches, the golden blossoms of forsythia, the tulips in the gardens, the cherry and apple blossoms, the lily-of-the-valley lining a wooden fence, the chandelier like blossoms of horse chestnut, and lately the lilacs. So many lilacs. Different shades. Bushes and bushes of lilacs bordering gardens and lining the sides of the park. Every day I stop and push my nose as close to the blossoms as possible and inhale the summer scent. 

The morning walk gives a wonderful start to my school days during all seasons and weather. I enjoy the quiet time, noticing the changes in nature, breathing in the fresh air, appreciating the small moments.