Saturday, August 30, 2014

Happy Birthday, to my walking buddy!

This summer, I walked myself to Plantar Fasciitis. And it only took me a little more than 700 miles to get there. A little bit of bad shoes, bad style of walking is all you need to reach there too. I know you don’t intend to, so, if you’ve realized that walking is your new love, make sure your shoes are good and they fit well.

But, that’s not what I’m about to write further, am I? I wanted to recall the best of those miles, walked, before the memories would seem so distant…that I may forget them. And it happened, when I walked with Hubby dear.  Its not for the walk, as much as for the talk, that I enjoyed during those long walks, be it on a beautiful Spring Morning or a humid summer evening and even on a scorching mid afternoon

_DSC9433w

The guy has this flare for talking, I kid you not. If there was some last ounce of energy left in him…I’d bet, he’d choose to use it on talking…to me! No wonder, it was he who ended up loosing weight that he didn’t need to , as we walked alongside each other, mostly trying to keep to MY pace.

All those stories, anecdotes, snippets, trivia, tidbits, quotes, that were shared. Some hilarious, some simply clever, most informative.

He doesn’t just say..doesn’t just recant an instance, without missing out on any details, his voice changes, the intensity with which he narrates,it would put an intensive aerobics workout to shame! That’s how much workout his lungs would get.

Even enacting sometimes..making it come alive for you, all the while, he’s enjoying it too. It gets him excited. He’s into the character, he’s talking about. Nice to get entertained while u get your workout, right?! Most times, we find…I’m running to keep up with his pace. We forget who is setting the pace. No wonder… the Plantar Fasciitis has shown me… bad choice!

I won’t forget that spring morning walk…I had been so tired by the middle of the walk on that particular day. We still ended up walking 10 miles. Just as my feet has started to hurt, he began this story of some viral video, a parody, BHaiHo or something. Oh My..it was so funny..didn’t realize when we reached home.

The episode of the Pink Tongued Mango Vole has us cracking up every time, I think about it. I’ve caught myself laughing to myself, alone, in a crowd when I think about it.

If, like a child, I’d go to him and ask the story be retold, he recounts it with the same enthusiasm, he laughs so much, that his eyes start to tear. Did you know that the amusement parks get heavy tax benefits, if they house endangered species?! And that is the start of the tale of the Pink Tongued Mango Vole!

He has figured out that this is the best way to get me out of my grumpy mode. I had been really mad at him, that day. We’d argued fiercely. He was being so unreasonable, Obviously! I’d insisted that I wanted to walk alone. But, he followed. Then, I’d decided,that I’m going to give him that silent treatment as we walked, but, he’s ready with some interesting topic. Slowly, inch by inch he has managed to talk me into it, get me to smile and then I was laughing and in a few more…I am participating.

We’ve talked about business to crime investigation to Florida! Yeah Florida!! Thanks to this author, Carl Hiassen, it has a lot of talk material, which reminds me of this tidbit. The Hurricane season is the time when tugs are most active in Florida! Did you know? 

Was totally aware of the situation of the Burmese python infestation in the forests of Florida, changing the ecological system there, before it made it to the news in the Time Magazine.  There is so much he has shared with me, about the culture, people, landscape of Florida, thanks to Carl Hiassen’s books that he’d been indulging in lately.

He is a sucker for everything that pertains to law and investigation.  Everything from phrases like “Low hanging fruit” to “Sleeping with the fish”… yeah! random topics ranging from business to crime, and anything in between.

Still, there are times when I want to announce to the world around… “Hey…I don’t know who this guy is. He’s not with me!” Especially when he walks with me holding those atrociously big dumb bells in his hands so, he can have an upper body workout too! Seriously, does the guy even need it? Look at his picture!

And not only that, he has this equally ridiculous backpack in which he carries a couple of water bottles. He’s a sight to watch in that outfit. I’ve banned him from walkin with me when he comes out dressed like that! But, seems like his talk is too overpowering, intoxicating… I’ve let him put me through this torture, for a good reason, you see. I want to have a fun workout!

The other day, as we walked, a woman went past us. She was running slowly. It was a narrow walkway.Obviously, she had to pass us. As she did..she placed it, right in front of our eyes.. What? Her butt!

I don’t know if it was her height or her body suit.( Yeah, she had some outfit that was like a tightly hugging bodysuit.)

She was a well exercised women and naturally, my first instinct was to measure up, if I was as fit or more, even! Unknowingly or knowingly, I do tend to do that. Do you?!

Then my eyes settled on her butt. It was right in front of our faces, swaying away, gently, and it caught my attention. There was no escaping. You see, it was the only view available, there was no other place to look, it was either those tall trees on the side or her in the front!

In the next moment, my thought went to Hubby dear. I was sure he was looking too.  I was battling with the thought if I should check..Should I suddenly look up to him and confirm what I thought?! Or, should I just let him have his moment. Just as I was deciding to leave him alone, he started to speak. And, this is what he narrated…

“ Why are you staring at her butt?”

“No! I wasn’t starring at her butt..It was the BUTT, that was staring right at me!”

“And I think.. it would be too rude of me if I did not look back, leave the debt unpaid!”

It must have been from some TV episode or something and he has this uncanny ability of recanting things, that fit a moment, Verbatim!

We both started laughing and laughed our way through the next mile.

Happy Birthday Dear Hubby! Here’s to many many more years of talking and walking and sharing views, ofcourse!