6:15 a.m….Choice to make…small Fitness Room with piped-in elevator music and/or talking heads on two TV screens…or…out the door into 46 degree weather for a power walk.
6:25 a.m….out the door.
6:28 a.m….listen to my heart as it moves toward high gear; up the steep incline on Innovation Park Dr…thump, thump; breathing more labored. The sound of my footsteps becomes a cadence for the uphill march.
6:33 a.m….say “good morning” to two small singing birds; accept their invitation to join them. We sing.
6:37 a.m….out of breath at the turn around point, .75 miles; welcome new light rising behind the mountains; beautiful mural as the shadowy mountains meet the crisp morning light.
6:39 a.m…now it’s downhill; yea!; such a lovely winding path lined with trees and green bushes; downhill is easier.
6:45 a.m….the wind is at my back helping me along like an old friend; I say “thank you” and listen to the wind’s song in the trees.
6:48 a.m….I am shocked to see, just in front of me, a sleek (and large) bobcat come out of the bushes on my right, cross the four-lane street…slowly, like he owns the territory…and disappear into dense foliage across the street. I follow. (I know) I want to see him closer, to take in that graceful beauty. But, it’s his territory and he disappears. What a sighting. What a gift.
6:50 a.m….approaching the last curve before my home comes into sight; the sun is just touching the mountain peak now and it broadcasts long arms across the tree tops, fingers stretching out and dropping big splashes of light everywhere.
6:55 a.m…at my front door; sweat on my back and mental pictures of a wonderful walk…a wonder walk; along the hallway I pass the Fitness Room, elevator music is competing with thundering TV sets; I smile. What a way to begin the day. This IS the day the Lord has made…and the Lord did a very fine job of it.
Shining Spirit 
Thanks to the Lord for the day and to you for the exercise. Now i will not have to power walk.