Winter Walks

I used to hate winter. The cold, the gray, the early darkness. Every year I would just hibernate until spring.

This year, a friend challenged me to walk outside for twenty minutes every day in January, no matter the weather. I thought she was a little crazy, but I agreed.

The first few days were miserable. Then something changed. I started noticing things. The way frost makes the grass sparkle in the morning. The quiet after a snowfall, when the whole world seems to be holding its breath. The bright red cardinal that lives in the hedge on my corner.

I started saying good morning to the other walkers. There's a man with a husky, a woman who walks backwards for exercise, and a little boy in a dinosaur hat who waves at everyone.

I walked all thirty-one days. I'm still going. It turns out winter was never the problem. I just hadn't learned how to look at it yet.