A Perfect Walk

Yesterday, after doing my laundry and then walking up to Safeway to do my grocery shopping, I took my usual stroll up Harwood, down Pacific and Hornby and back west along the seawall to Sunset Beach.

I wore only a t-shirt and although it was cool I felt quite comfortable.

Because of the beautiful sunny weather there were a lot of others enjoying the ambience of the walk and the beach and I followed in the footsteps of an elderly couple who passed me walking arm in arm. They were very tiny, well under 5 feet for sure. He was bald and she had carefully coifed, colored and brushed light brown hair that did not completely hide the gray.

As they passed me, I could smell them and it was a smell of cleanliness and familiarity. Everything about them was perfect. They could have been my own grandparents. I felt so comfortable walking in their wake.

They walked with easy dignity and exuded an aura of love, not like two young lovers but like two who have known the whole journey of love and lived through it and stayed the course.

As I continued to amble towards the Inukshuk they outpaced me and I lost sight of them.

I decided to walk as far as the Inukshuk, circle it and then go back home to begin cooking my dinner. It was an easy walk and as I rounded the loop by the stones where the Inukshuk stands watch, I observed many young people posing, laughing and mugging for their tiny cameras, in order to capture their tokens of this glorious day.

There was one trio who seemed to be taking fashion photos of a very pretty young woman, and she smiled and pouted and flirted with the camera as the wind blew up a choppy surf in the background. She also took photos of them, but it seemed that the focus was on her.

Another group a little further along was taking a much more relaxed and fun-filled set of pics, they seemed more like school friends.

Round the bend I came face to face with the elderly couple who had first passed me and I noticed the man's face for the first time. He looked at me briefly and did not smile but his eyes were light and kind and full of benevolence.

This walk was the kind of everyday experience that is so often taken for granted. Today I was awake enough to cherish it and make it my own.