"Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum and I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart..."

Talk about irony, I was actually out on a walk when I was thinking about the theme this month. "A serious walk... A serious walk ... It made me smile.

Why did it make me smile? Come walk with me and you‘ll see. Typically I walk for about 45 minutes a day. On days when I feel like it, yes, diligently on days that I feel like it, I walk 45 minutes a day. I have to go one direction and then back again, A to Z so to speak.

Why? Otherwise I cheat. Yes I do. If I go one direction for 23 minutes---- then I have no choice but to go back again. That is the only way I can fool myself into walking those 45 diligent minutes on those diligent days that I possibly feel like it.

Again, I smile, thinking about the walk itself. Come walk with me. I’d love for you to walk with me. When I walk, it is just me --- and God. If you come, it will be you and me and God. Come walk with me.

A serious walk --- a serious walk. From "A to Z " - a serious walk ...

I smile.

One block into my diligent, serious walk and God and I are deep into conversation. I talk to God the whole time and sometimes have to remember to not talk out loud lest people think I am a wandering goof ball. I’ve been called worse.

I stop to pet a cat that is sunning in the last rays of the day. I sit beside him as he purrs gently. I stroke his head and I take a moment longer to remove a sandspur from his leg. His face exudes peace as he settles back into his nap.

I smile, knowing where that peace comes from. I get up, brush myself off and go on my way.

Back to my walk, back to my conversation with God. Some days when my heart is really heavy, I do all the talking. Other days I just listen. I pass the most beautiful flower garden and am in awe of the ability to grow something so beautiful in such heat.

I have to stop and take it in with both my eyes and my nose. I try to fight the urge to pick one for me, and then I move on. I did try and fight the urge, but did I win? Only God knows ... He smiles.

We walk on. God’s voice is gentle and I can’t help but look heavenward while I listen. I notice a huge, white, puffy cloud above me.  I try and figure out whether that cloud looks like a teddy bear giving a gift ... or maybe something else.

I literally walk into a small tree because I am looking up and not forward. This time I laugh aloud. I am sure someone had to see me do that, and I know it won’t be the last time that happens.

I try to focus more on the ground instead of the beautiful cloud formations but instantly upon looking down I find the most beautiful feather. I stop to pick it up and brush it against my arm, like the brush of an angel’s wings.

A dog wanders by and comes over with tail wagging wanting a bit of attention. I pet him until he gets bored of it and then I look to make sure it has a tag so that it is not lost. It does, so I send him in the right direction and ask God to see his way home.

I pass a house where a mother is screaming at her child so loud that you can hear it outside, even though the windows are closed. I lift them to God, knowing the damage that can be done, and I pray protection for one of God’s children. I walk on.