S A U N T E R I N G

Have you done it lately.        .       .

S          A          U          N          T          E          R          E          D

I  just  complete a few days of doing that along the Florida coastline

from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs

I   S A U N T E R E D.          .          .

My knees no longer let me run

My knees no longer let me walk great distances

Q      U      I      C      K      L      Y

So  now  I

s       a       u       n       t       e       r

and I’ve got to tell you

Seaside Sauntering is my absolute favorite

Henry David Thoreau, in an essay on walking,

explained the origin of the word

s     a     u     n     t     e     r

He says the term comes from the Middle Ages

when wandering pilgrims would beg for alms

to finance their journey to

“la   saint   terre”

“T H E       H O L Y       L A N D”

I can’t overwhelming vouch for the origin of the word

but I’m more and more understanding Thoreau’s  theory is in doubt,

but I do like his explanation better than any I’ve heard

because more and more

I’m becoming a

S        A        U        N        T        E        R        E        R

a      true      W a n d e r i n g      W O N D E R E R

who needs to wander

and wonder

a little bit more than what I have.          .        .

Let’s hear it for true sauntering.          .          .

My dictionary tells me the word

“as  to  wander  or  walk  about  idly  and  in  the  leisurely  or  lazy  manner;  to lounge; to  stroll; to  loiter”

W     H     O     A

I’m  not  so  sure  that’s  100%  me  yet

or  if  I  would  like  it  to  be  bigger  percentage  of  me.        .        .

 a loiterer

in no particular hurry

taking time to see the world around me

sampling it along the way.          .          .

Not a whole lot of people saunter about these days.          .          .

Everyone seems to be in a hurry

to get to somewhere

and do something

running off to this meeting

or taking care of that obligation

signing up for one course

or another continuing education opportunity

frantically working out our own ways

that often lead down not-so-getting-to-where-you-need-to-be-destinations

I found out in a magical kind of way

these past couple of days

S A U N T E R I N G        I S       A N       A   R   T

No one taught me better than that than

G E O R G E

who would SAUNTER

up to our Breakfast table and

not-so-sneakily-ate-off-my-plate

scraps I wasn’t scrappy enough to gobble up first

Our waitress, Susan told us that George

had been a regular the past 10 or so years

and was a not only a Eater’s Favorite

but  a  great  Professor  of

S           A           U           N           T           E           R           I            N           G

with the truest of lessons:

THE COURSE:

SAUNTERING  LEADS  TO  DEEPER  CARING AND  COMPASSION 101

and just when you might be thinking that this course might be for the birds;

S A U N T E R

on and

S A U N T E R I N G L Y    WONDER  

a g a i n

t  o      g  l  o  r  y

In the meantime,

I’ll  have  to  look  into  the  legal  ramifications  of  my

l o i t e r i n g

charges.          .          .