This week I started back on my exercise routine, after various busy factors got in the way for several weeks. I’ve been enjoying getting back into the swing of walking on the river path. And boy oh boy are the birds whooping it up out there. The birds are really singing in Alderbrook.  Alleluia! say the Widgeons. Alleluia! say the little Song Sparrows and the Red Wing Blackbirds. The dog park idea has found fertile ground elsewhere, specifically on the old football field adjacent to the Hospital. Consequently no fenced area next to the trestle bay here in Alderbrook, and perhaps there will even be plantings of native plants and enhanced bird habitat. This is all thanks to the efforts of many people in the neighborhood who stepped up to clarify to the city the importance of this little wild area. Yeah Neighbors!

The reason I had not been walking is that my healing sabbatical year ended quite abruptly in January when simultaneously, I reentered the workforce, and Sam started his participation with this year’s season of robotics. From zero to 110 mph. I felt a bit like a careening race car.  For me, a woman that barely drove in 2014, to suddenly be driving to Seaside 6 days a week, sometimes twice per day, was a big change. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I’ve really been more of a Taxi? Anyway all the unaccustomed out of house activity knocked me off my walking routine.

Driving aside, we are grateful for the chance for Sam, as a homeschooled lad, to have the opportunity to join with Seaside High School’s robotics team; Team 3673 the C.Y.B.O.R.G. Seagulls. The program is pretty amazing and very positive for the students. Mr. Brown, Seaside physics teacher and the very dedicated robotics advisor, and the wonderful volunteer mentors, gave so much time and energy to make it a great experience for the whole team.

Robotics ended last weekend and I am excited to start walking again. Especially since I heard from my friend Lynn Potter, of Three Treasures Acupuncture in Gearhart, something new about the goodness of walking. She told me about how walking is promoted from two very different directions. First an ancient Aryvedic maxim;

“The one thing any person young or old, sick or healthy can do to improve their wellbeing is walking into the first light of the day.”

Second, in a recent study with insulin dependent diabetics, participants were able to reduce their need for insulin  with no change in treatment- other than going for a short stroll after each meal.  I really love it when ancient wisdom lines up with modern science don’t you?  (You can read one study here)

During my busy taxi driver days of February I definitely noticed a positive difference in my body on the days I did manage to get out for a walk. This week I have walked or ridden my bike every day. On Tuesday I walked the 3 mile loop twice. As I was nearly home on Tuesday evening I suddenly realized how amazing it is that I have the energy to walk the loop twice in one day. This is a very different body than the one I was living in a year ago. As spring blossoms around us I feel myself growing stronger and stronger.

Tomorrow is the new moon, the Vernal Equinox, and a total solar eclipse in Europe. Triple whammy! The day and the night will be perfectly equal. Perhaps this moment of alignment and the triple astronomical powers of lunar renewal,  equinox, and eclipse together will bring extra goodness to all of us. There is a lot to be thankful for all around us.  You know our ancient ancestors would have been staging big celebrations for this. They built stonehenge to line up with the equinox after all.

It seems like many things are coming into balance with the light.   So, here’s to spring, and valiant neighbors who speak out for the Earth. Here’s to the beautiful birds, and incremental improvements from small actions. And finally here’s to the wisdom of the ancients and the brilliance of our youth. I’m with the birds, Alleluia! Happy Spring Equinox.