Bow Tie o’ the Day traipsed all over Centerville on a pleasant walk with us. Okay, we didn’t walk all over Centerville. We actually walked about 16 blocks. Well… it was 8 blocks each way, but 16 blocks sounds like I went infinitely far. It was the longest walk I’ve done since late June, so I’ll pat myself on the back once or twice for doing it even though I can throw a baseball farther than I can walk right now.
We got a couple of blocks from home, then Suzanne said, “Whenever you need to turn back, just tell me.” After that, at the end of each block, she said the same thing. I kept girding up my tweaking insides and saying we should go one more block, every block. After the eighth block, I could feel I had walked too far. And I knew I had to walk the same distance back! I let my pride keep me pretending I was fine. But I really felt like the Primary song in which the “Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked.” And even a few more “and walked”‘s.
Finally, I had to sit on a curb and rest a minute. But was I going to say I was out of oomph and in pain, and tell Suzanne to go get the car while I wait right here? Hell, no! I found the curb spot where I took this photo, and I sat down and said, “Oh, let’s stop here a minute. This crosswalk will make a fine TIE O’ THE DAY picture.” I didn’t mention my physical predicament to Suzanne at all. I just sat on the curb, got my iPhone out and shot a bunch of selfies, then looked through them and said, “Those didn’t quite work the way I wanted them to, so I better shoot a few more.” And then I did that again and again, until I felt rested enough to walk home. It worked. Suzanne didn’t catch on to my deceitful trick. I got to say I went on a longish (for me) walk, and Suzanne’s happy and proud of me because she thinks I’m getting my stamina back.
