My walk

Yogi Berra used to say, "You can observe a lot by watching." And I am trying to be more observant. It was another warm morning. I had to step carefully several times walking through the pine cones scattered at intervals and I am always aware of where I step. Some of the concrete has heaved just ever so slightly and is a trip hazard. Ants scurry from one side of the pathway to the other and I try to avoid being the cause of their last day on this earth. I did see a ladybug today. Several dogs happy to be out with their walkers panted their way around the pond, and I watched a crane as it became aware of my closing in and leapt in the air like they do and launched its way across the pond and glided just barely above the calm surface of the water before gently climbing up and over the trees possibly to the pond on the other side of the street. I stepped around the purple staining of the mulberry drop on the walkway, a semi-circle of purple and white. I also saw barefoot man running today. I hadn't seen him for about a year. I first saw him in June last year as I walked while recovering from my stroke. I saw him a handful of times (as though we can hold time in our hands) and always said hi. He would greet me in return but keep on running. I asked him once why he ran barefoot, and he said he liked the feeling and he kept right on going. Today he passed me, and I blurted out. "Barefoot man, how you doing?" He said, "Fine. And you?" and kept on going. I thought of Sasquatch. I made my way home through the Tara Hills park enjoying the shade after a steep uphill and then down the hill in the sun switchback portion of the walk. I sat in the shade of my west side of the apartment's small patio to cool down but there was barely a hint of a breath of a scintilla of a zephyr today. I noticed the shadow of a bird, probably a hawk, as it circled high above. I couldn't see the bird, but the shadow moved across the grass and the garage rooftops several times before disappearing. A small wasp's nest, likely flicked from its location by one of the decks above me, lay on the cement floor. The wasps will need to build again or relocate. I could hear the traffic noises, dog's barks, airplanes taking off from Millard airport, and the occasional bird chirps of the morning.