What does the morning walk entail? To my dog, Chin-Chin, it’s an opportunity to sniff at every available dirt pile, to piddle on even more grass tufts, and occasionally to bark furiously at other dogs and hide behind my legs. Apparently, with me around she becomes brave and wants the other dogs to know about it.

Waiting for the Walk

I, on the other hand, like to amble along and let Chin-Chin do her dog business. There are bushes of rosemary that if she sticks her nose into makes her smell like a chicken dinner. She doesn’t seem to mind and she actually smells quite nice.

Then we start the real walk. The first thing is to climb a hill, when the hill gets too steep it calls for climbing stairs. The road curves and zigzags up the hill, but the stairs are a straight shot up. There are three sets of stairs with a break where a road crosses them. I take a few breaths and keep climbing. As I keep ascending, the view gets better and better. I’d like to say that the air gets thinner and clearer, but no, not that high. Up the hill, it’s quiet and the air is still. There might be a car on the road, but the streets are so narrow they have to slow down or they’ll end up in someone’s living room.

Looking Down the Steps and the View Beyond

The views are great, the stairs are steep and it gives me a sense of elation when I get up there. Then there’s heading back down another set of stairs because I don’t want life to be dull by going up and down the same set of stairs. The trees are taller and occlude the view, but it’s still great to trundle down to the next few streets and back to home.