I just finished Week 3 of my walking challenge, which I’ve nicknamed, ‘My Coronavirus Camino.’ The rules are simple, I’m going to walk every day for a minimum of two miles until I reach 500 miles. There is no rush to finish–I’m just going to do it! This ‘magic number’ is the length of the Camino Frances in France/Spain.

Week 3–

• 4/2/2020–4.02 miles
• 4/3/2020–3.17 miles
• 4/4/2020–4.81 miles
• 4/5/2020–7.32 miles
• 4/6/2020–6.05 miles
• 4/7/2020–4.09 miles
• 4/8/2020–2.26 miles

Total for the Week--31.72 miles
Total for 'My Coronavirus Camino'---104.99 miles 
Check out Week 1 & Week 2!

4/2/2020–

Debbie and I were supposed to leave for London today, so I’m feeling sad and disappointed about missing out on our trip. Because the airline is so backlogged, we haven’t even been given our refund yet. We cancelled, of course, but our request was put into a queue and we still haven’t gotten a response. I’m in a funk about other things, too, so the best way to say it is that I needed to force myself to walk today. I just wasn’t in the mood…but after I got out there….my spirits definitely lifted!

4/3/2020–

Today during my walk, a man purposely coughed in my direction–twice! I almost hate to admit this, but his actions made me feel like I could do something violent. Please read this how I intend it…I wanted to kick him in the crouch. Seriously!

I was walking on the sidewalk and I noticed two people walking shoulder-to-shoulder toward me. When we were about twenty feet apart, it was obvious that they weren’t going to move aside, so I stepped off the sidewalk and continued to walk on the road. My action prompted the man to lean toward his walking partner and whisper something which made them both laugh. He then coughed in my direction, in a long and exaggerated manner. He looked up to gauge my reaction, which apparently they thought was funny because they both laughed deeply. As we passed, with them still on the sidewalk, and me on the street, he turned his head and coughed again, but this time in my direction.

They erupted in laughter and I was left feeling like I was under attack. It was such a bizarre feeling.

4/5/2020–

Today I walked with Tom on the jail trail, and during our trek we noticed a a lone graffiti message scrawled on a perfectly painted white fence which read, “Kill the local rapist.” We briefly talked about the odd message, but then quickly forgot about it.

The path is about 8 feet wide, and keeping social distancing in mind, Tom walked toward one side of the path, while I stayed close to the other side. This left a big gaping hole between us, which allowed bikes to pass easily between.

I had totally forgotten about the graffiti on our return, but Tom saw it and said loudly, “Kill the local rapist,” at the exact moment that a biker zoomed between us. I know the cyclist heard him, because Tom was practically yelling. I started to laugh and I couldn’t stop. I kept thinking about what the biker was thinking as he pedaled past. At very least, he was probably thinking, “I’m outta here–what is this weirdo talking about?”

It still makes me laugh when I think about it!

Later in the afternoon, I met Debbie at Orr’s Farm for another walk.

3/7/2020–

Ugh! The Coronavirus has really been putting me in a funk this week! I was supposed to be in London this week, and that was cancelled, and today I found out that my trip to Svalbard has also been cancelled. I was supposed to be going on an amazing trip to the Arctic Circle at the end of May to see polar bears, walruses, ice floes, icebergs, etc. Ahhhhh! I’m so disappointed! I was expecting it to be cancelled, but when it really happened, it hit me hard!

And what’s the remedy for curing the blues—-taking a walk, of course!

4/8/2020–One of my walking songs today…