Fresh air

I took my first walk today in over a week. It was the first since the last one through the snow from A&E to the medical clinic at 3am feeling very short of breath and right before being diagnosed with pneumonia. This one was much more enjoyable and I had company. After a delicious brunch, my friend Maria and I went for a brief walk through the streets of the Hollywood Hills. It wasn't the hike up the fire road that we'd both hoped to do, but it was up a hill and it was about all my recovering body could handle today. I wasn't even sure it would go as far as it did, but it's incredible how far you can get just putting one foot in front of another. I didn't think I'd get very far, but I was ready to go, ready to be outside, ready for fresh air. And it felt like fresh air, despite being in LA. Up in the hills there are trees. Tall, beautiful, leafy trees that produce good clean oxygen.

I have missed trees, almost as much as I've missed mountains. And I've been feeling a little short on fresh air. I've been spending too much time inside, not enough time outside. Maybe it was the 13 hours on a plane earlier in the week, but I think mostly it's been being sick and staying inside where it's warm. Inside where the heater is on, drying out the air. Inside where the air just circulates and there's no infusion of freshness.

It was wonderful to be outside and walking. Even if it was only for a short while, it was needed and I feel better for having done it. I need to recover quickly now so that I can spend the rest of my time here climbing hills, roaming the canyons , being outside in the fresh, warm by comparison, California air.