Found a new walking spot.

I found a new walking spot about 7 minutes from the house. My usual walking spot is about 15 minutes out, which means burning a couple of gallons of gas everyday. Add that to the regular drives into "the city" Bend, I was filling up the car every week instead of every month as I was used to.

Anyway, I wouldn't quite call this walk in "nature," as the occasional dumped sofa or pile of tires remind me. (What is wrong with people?) But my regular spot isn't pristine either. The main goal is to get out under the open sky, take in the sun and the wind and the fresh air, bathe in the trees and rocks, and most importantly, the solitude.

The solitude fuels the writing. At home there are constant distractions and temptations--Panga and Linda, the TV, books, and most distracting of all, the Internet.

I need to find a place were I'm extremely unlikely to run into people. (Maybe 1% of the time?) Thing is, I'm an introvert and if I think it is likely I'll run into another person at all, I have a certain amount of guardedness, or a mask, if you will.

Being completely alone--to the level of actually being able to talk to myself if need be--is what gives me the psychic space to create.

To find 100% solitude and real nature requires a drive of at least an hour, and even then I'm almost as likely to run into an intrepid nature goer.

Anyway, I suspect I'll probably still go to my usual spot 15 miles away because I have clearly marked "writing posts" where I can sit every quarter mile or so and write a few hundred words. And I don't have to think about where I'm going. (These high desert dirt roads are a maze, let me tell you.)

But when I want a quick walk and don't want to spend half an hour driving, this new place will do.

It feels good to get back to it. (So far, the walking, but I'm hoping the writing will follow...