Tuesday April 21, 2020

There’s nothing like the solitude that a morning walk provides. I’m not alone in my thinking. People all over the world relish this peaceful part of the day. In our community I have observed four general types that define the morning exercise crowd: the 8:30 group that meets daily on the beach to socialize with their dogs, the joggers or runners, the town walkers, and the headland crowd. People walk solo/with a friend or family member/or with their fur baby(s).

Our population is small, 350 people in the city limits with a surrounding community that totals about 1,500. We have a fishing fleet of 17 crab boats. Tourism and sport fishing draws additional people into the mix. So it’s fairly easy to recognize the morning crowd and decipher between residents and visitors. The community reminds me of the fictitious town of Portwenn in the television series Doc Martin. Both are small fishing communities situated on the ocean and above a small bay. (Portwenn is actually Port Isaac, in North Cornwall, England.)

On today’s walk three of us followed each other around the headland, apparently walking at a similar pace, spaced between 30 – 200 feet apart. There were additional people on the headland but they were out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. I realize how fortunate we are. If this were like most other coastal towns the numbers would be much higher. Never the less it’s all relative and what your used to. So being sandwiched between two others along the trail this morning created a little stress. Normally we would just pass each other. With Covid-19 we kept our distance. So today’s walk was almost like walking on and around a track. A track with a beautiful view.

The 50 second video below captures one of my favorite sounds: the buoys. It’s hard to capture with a cell phone. You sorta gotta be there. The view is of Trinidad Bay as seen from Trinidad Head. #iluvtowalk #walkingmakesmehappy #baxteronthego