The words to this well-known song kept bouncing around in my head this morning. I always liked that song , but the rain – not so much. In the dawn’s early light, I kept glancing out the window at the incessant drizzle, when suddenly, I must have willed it to stop, as the spigot was turned off and I was able to squeeze in a short walk to Wyandotte. The tried-and-true 2¼-mile trek retraces the route I travelled nearly every day through the Fall of 2011, followed by that extremely mild Winter of 2012. Back then I was feeling darn proud of myself for doing that roundtrip from home to the borderline of Lincoln Park and Wyandotte so effortlessly, and now I am able to walk up to 5½ miles per trip. So, I’m feeling good about that amount, and thinking my next short-term goal would be to get the equivalent of a 10K walk (or 6.2 miles) on one of my excursions. I did it last year, but not ‘til mid-November and it is really not a goal I’d strive to stride every day. The weather this year has definitely impacted my daily walk, whether it was snow and ice, or rain … plus those inevitable errands which often usurp the walking schedule. I know I have it in me to grab that 500-mile goal again and will continue to shoot for the stars.

“The only journey is the one within.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke