let me introduce you to my supporting cast...

in the search for improved mental, emotional and physical health, i am trying my hands (and feet!) at daily morning exercise. NOT easy for this girl...but i'm DOING IT! getting out of the house to jog/walk has been more beneficial than i bargained (or hoped) for. in part, because i have encountered a new and regular host of characters who enhance each and every morning...

and i would love to introduce you to them.

first we have big-guy-with-little-dogs. parading through the neighborhood in his sleeveless t-shirts, big-guy-with-little-dogs proudly leads his three pristinely white toy poodles on their daily walk. each of his puffy little princesses dawns her own color-coded wide, satin collar and leash. hold your head high, big-guy-with-little-dogs!

then we have rosary lady. walking swiftly, clutching her blue rosary and visibly muttering her "hail marys." each step is one closer to justification.

and ohhhhhh three-old-asian-ladies-on-a-bench, how i love thee. squeezing themselves onto a bench built for two, they clutch their walkers and hold their heads up to peer at each other from under their extraordinary large sun visors as they furiously gossip in their particular asian language about each of the passersby. considering how long it took them to walk-er their way to that bench in the middle of the park, they are perfectly content to sit there until their sun visors long past needed.

then we have shuffly-turban guy. a sweet, old indian man who makes his way around the park each morning. with his pants far too short and his turban far too orange, we mutter a happy "good morning" to each other as we pass.

saving the best for last, we have my favorite...really-old-guy-with-really-old-dogs. i've seen him walking his dogs in my neighborhood for a couple of years now. his two small terriers are soulmates in canine form. their dog years match his human years. they hobble at the same speed...taking the same length of time to mount curbs, round corners and smell the roses; expending more energy than they have and pausing to wait for their second or seventeeth wind. their speed maxes out at one hesitant foot in front of the other. they are quite the threesome...always the same speed, always together, never leaving another behind.

really-old-guy-with-really-old-dogs has earned a special place in my heart, and each day i earn a "hello" or a smile (consisting of one upturned mouth corner), i consider it victory. he brings a certain joy to my life, he does. one of these days, i want to sit on a bench next to him, ask him the names of his two faithful companions and maybe hear a few stories from his long and no doubt interesting life.

these characters are the mile-markers in my mornings. they make an unhappy task more like a treasure hunt. they make something foreign feel comfortable. as much as they are strangers, they are becoming familiar community to me...and it feels good.

there's a world so much bigger than the one i live in...and it exists right within my neighborhood.

who knew?