solvitur ambulando again

So even though I have a cold, and even though I was tired, I went for a walk around the lake anyway. No one seemed to need me in the office, so I didn't feel guilty for slipping out for half an hour. It wasn't as warm in the late afternoon as it had been earlier, but I had dressed in layers today, and I was armed with a pocketful of tissues, so I was comfortable enough.

The water was really raging over the waterfall due to the recent rain. I saw a couple of townhouses for sale, and I wish I could afford one because living in a townhouse on a lake sounds pretty divine to me. There were lots of dogs out today, including two pit bulls straining at the end of their leashes, wanting desperately to say hi to each other, and a few other small yappy dogs. The ducks and geese and swans had all congregated in one area on the water, with a heron observing them from a distance. No male deer with his ladies, like Jane and I saw yesterday. Despite my cold, I could still detect the smell of winter in the air - it has a distinct aroma, a combination of fireplaces, warmth being held in the body, ice in the wind, old scarves and mittens brought out of closets, or new ones bought, the sleep of some things, and the death of others. I never bought into the whole spring starts on this date and fall starts on that date. Mother Earth doesn't work that way - leaves were starting to change color and fall off trees in August.

Most everyone I passed nodded or smiled or said hi, including the old man who is always bundled up in coat and gloves and hat with ear flaps and shuffles along the path picking up trash and stray branches. Toward the end of my walk, the sunlight was full in my face, which I'm sure was good for my brain. In the blazing glare, I could just barely make out a young man coming toward me on what looked like crutches. As I got closer to him, I saw that in fact, he had two white metal canes that he would steady on the path and then swing his body forward. It was a slow process, requiring all of his focus, and it looked tiring, but he wasn't out of breath. He didn't seem to have any use of his legs, which he kept close together and which were slightly twisted at an odd angle. He was by himself, coming from the parking lot. I can't imagine how he had gotten to the lake, and I wondered if he intended to go around the entire lake, which is a good two and a half miles in circumference. He looked up and smiled at me easily, and I smiled back easily, and he went back to steadying the canes and swinging forward, and I suddenly had a whole section of plot figured out for my novel. So thank you, whoever you were (and are).

NaNoWriMo word count: 24399