Slow and Steady

Over the past few weeks, winter unofficially arrived in Kingston bringing with it much beauty and many moments to savour. I think here of:

• gorgeous flakes of snow falling, settling on lawns and open fields, glittering
• crisp, fresh air that feels amazing and contains a kind of vitality
• freezing rain that wrapped itself around and attached to, well, just about everything, which includes branches and fall berries–the ice encapsulating these as if to put them on display, catch our attention: look here, and here and here, isn’t this beautiful, isn’t this amazing? Yes.

However, the arrival of the snow brought other types of experiences, too. The combination of sidewalks covered by snow and ice with today’s milder temperatures created an effect somewhat akin to certain particularities of walking along a sand beach: one foot sets down then slides around a bit; next foot steps down, then slides around. Sometimes it feels as if you are taking one step forward, then sliding a quarter of a step back.

As I faced a similar phenomenon walking home tonight on sidewalks covered by slush, slow and steady is what came to mind–take one step with some sliding around and possibly some slipping back, then take the next. Slow and steady. Just keep stepping along bit and bit.

I did. The air felt great and I found that what initially felt like a far walk ended up feeling not so far when accompanied by the gentle step by step, bit by bit walking along, as well as accepting that today’s walk might take more time, include some slipping, and perhaps, also, some smaller steps.