Building a habit ... concludes here, new paths emerge.

It is now my fifth week in countryside and The Morning Coffee Walk is no more. Here's a bit of recapping and some reminiscence instead.

It all started soon after I had reached my Quitting Point at work and decided to risk going freelance rather than be the complacent enabler for the proverbial Scott expeditions. The first goal was to work against the sneakily settling sedentary bed-coffee-computer rut. Taking the "coffee" phase outdoors worked rather well. (Some of my inspiration came from Jane McGonigal - indeed, at the time I was also coping with the end of an anti-depressant treatment and was seeking ways to maintain and build on the results.)











The walks that had once started out as the one activating nudge in each day, eventually became the one guaranteed chunk of quiet time and solitude. In winter my parents had taken in our grand aunt (an alternative to a nursing home, that had seemed inevitable at that point). My initially modest assistance (like filling in for the occasional lunch duty or handing out evening medicine) gradually grew to spending more and more time together. Then a decision materialized, out of the blue: why not go ahead and do my assisting at her home, in countryside. After all, I was already spending half my day "granny-sitting" and the simple household responsibilities would provide subtle structure for the "long term maintenance plan" I was seeking for myself.




Now, two months after the decision I'm finally beginning to find some write-y time (and brain span to spare) again. I have planned to create a whole new post series of our adventures here - and a few drafts are already brewing.

Meanwhile, the links for the walks past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14. And spread around here are some highlights of the few walks I have been able to sneak into my schedule over here.