I Can See For Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles

"The Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are mine to see on clear days. You thought that I would need a crystal ball to see right through the haze. I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles."  (Written by Peter Townshend and a hit for The Who in 1967.)

 It can get pretty boring walking my mile on the Life Fitness treadmill every day. I tried listening to audio books with limited success. Mostly I let my mind wander and often it goes back to the mile I walked when we lived on the farm.

If I'm at a quarter mile on the treadmill, I think, "I'm just about down to the bridge," and recall the two pigeons that would fly out from underneath it as I approached.

In the spring I might smell the intoxicating aroma of the honey locusts in bloom at the other place remembering when we used to play in that coppice when we were kids. Only a tenth of a mile to go.

One thing for certain, walking in the country was never boring. Mostly I would only see freshly dug holes along the side of the road and think badger. But one morning there was one looking at me and I thought badger! Should I keep walking ahead or turn around and get out of its territory?

Most of the birds I saw I could identify, but one morning I heard a lovely new birdsong. The bird looked something like a meadowlark, but it was smaller and it wasn't singing like a meadowlark. When I got back and looked it up in my bird book, I had a new bird to add to my life list - a Dicksissel. They look more like a sparrow than a meadowlark, but they are actually related to the cardinal.

From our driveway north to the neighbor's orange field gate and back was an even mile. So when I'm walking on the treadmill and get to one-half mile, I think, "I'm at the orange gate." It does seem to make the workout less boring.
One of the smells I loved the most along the country walk was elderberry blossoms. If there was a perfume that smelled like they do, I'd be wearing it. And every year when the elderberries ripened I would think about picking them to make jelly or wine. I've never even tasted elderberry wine, yet it was the one wine I always thought I wanted to try making. Maybe I really should start a bucket list instead of just talking about doing so.
Next time I'm on the treadmill I would have something new to think about:
BUCKET LIST.....1) Try making wine. 2)........