Monthly Musing – January 2025 – Fresh air

“Fresh air is magic; you should get outside every day!”

I am very good at telling people this but it appears that sometimes, I am better at dispensing this advice than taking any notice of it myself.

After a long day staring boggle-eyed at a screen with a deadline looming and the finish line nowhere I sight, I was bemoaning my lot to a friend via text (more screens, the irony is not lost on me!).  “I don’t know why it’s taking so long – or how I’m going to get it all finished – and I’ve got to walk the dog!” I typed.  I could see myself being up until midnight and still not finished!

“Why don’t you just go out now?” my friend typed back.  “A quick stroll round the block with the dog, get some fresh air, you’ll feel much better when you get back.”

I knew she was right, but I was still muttering to myself as I pulled on my hat, mitts and high vis strap over my coat (I’ve nearly been squashed too many times on a certain road by drivers too intent on getting to their destinations to look out for dog walkers).  “I don’t have time for this!”; “I just want to clock off and sit by the fire!”; “I should be knitting by now!”.

The dog ignored my muttering.  He had been ready to go from the minute I looked like I was about to pick up his lead, waiting impatiently by the door and barking when I wasn’t moving fast enough.

We don’t tend to do “quick strolls” these days.  The dog likes to take his time, checking out all the smells of the day, rootling in the piles of leaves along the roadside.  He’s not a doddery old man, but he doesn’t pull me along like an express train like he used to – he just likes to take his time.  I didn’t think this was what I wanted tonight – I needed him to get a move on … and he was going at his own pace.

I had no choice but to go at his pace.

You know without me telling you that it was the right thing to do.  That within minutes of leaving the house (even after stopping about fourteen times before the end of the road to check out Every New Smell) I could feel my spirits lifting and it didn’t matter that we were strolling rather than marching.  We walked along the dark streets of Winwick and with every footstep, the worries about the deadline were left behind, my head cleared, and I was glad to be outside.

Back home again, I’m sitting by the fire that I lit before we went out (there’s something so welcoming about coming home to a glowing fire), the dog is snoring on his bed, I’ve done what I needed to for today – and all it took was half an hour or so that I didn’t think I could spare to make everything right again.

Fresh air is magic, you know, and you should get outside in it every day.

I really should get better at taking my own advice!