My walk takes me down a winding road, past a deserted golf course, through a neighborhood of million-dollar plus homes with priceless Bay views culminating in my perfect little secret beach and the lovely sights that often capture my camera’s eye. Over the past three years that I have been taking this path, I have very rarely seen or spoken with the inhabitants of these homes. Lately, however, that has changed.

Phyllis has begun to make herself available to me on a portion of my walk. I have met Phyllis a half-dozen times over the years, but since this past Christmas it has been a weekly date. Every time I see Phyllis, we introduce ourselves again. You see Phyllis is in her upper eighties and she knows she’s met me, but she can never remember my name so we start anew each time. Phyllis is a lovely woman with the bend and gnarl of someone who has stooped and worked her whole life. Her voice sounds like Maine to me and she has a no-nonsense personality. Her eyes are bright blue and her hair is silky and silvery yellow. She is petite, but she is strong. Several times a year I see her in her yard working hard to maintain the lovely countenance of perennials that make her yard interesting all year long; the kind of yard I once had and dream of having again.

Phyllis always has a story to tell me and her stories are always engrossing. She has lived in that terracotta-colored 70’s rancher for 48 years so she knows all the secrets and history of the neighborhood. She waxes on for a few blocks then leaves me and Abbie and says goodbye. She always apologizes for monopolizing the conversation and I always say “thank you, Phyllis, for walking with me” and think “until we meet again”.

My walks have always been intentionally solitary sojourns for me because that is what I crave and seek. Lately, Phyllis has changed that for me and that is a good thing. Thank you, Phyllis, for walking with me.

Now that I am a writer, what do I write about?

First step, brain dump.

Who, what, where, when, why, how, joys, disappointments, observations, stories, horrors, etc. of:

Teaching

Motherhood

Miscarriage

Marriage

Divorce

Growing up girl

Growing up southern

Chesapeake Bay

Walking

Nature

Sailing

Living aboard

Introversion

Anxiety

Autism

Aging

Love

Crying

#metoo

amateur political observations