Treadmill vs. Trail

So, tonight I had made up my mind to take a walk on the trail across the street from my house. Here's a few of the thoughts I had while on that walk....

Treadmill: Air conditioning and a tv in front of me (Cash Cab being my favorite thing to watch) Pretty much staying at the same speed (not too fast I might add) and a 0 incline. (Probably could do more but hey, who's checking?)I also get really bored, despite the tv, while walking on the treadmill and it's very hard for me to stay on after I've done "my mile". Wow, this seems like it's so much harder on my feet and legs after walking on the beach for a week. Never really noticed that before.

Trail: Muggy and buggy. Hmmm, not sure I'm liking this. In an effort to "unplug" and spend more time with God, I didn't even bring my i-pod. What's that? Hmmm, not sure I ever heard that bird before. Oh wait, there's crickets. Fish jumping too. I'm so sweaty, is this really better than the treadmill? Huh, speed and incline vary on their own just by going up and down hills. This is so much easier on my feet and legs. I love this trail. I am loving the sounds. Funny how I miss that with headphones in my ears. So, I'm trying to listen and talk to God. Well, I don't have a problem with the talking it's the listening. At one point, I think I even said "You know God, I will really think everything is great and will be reminded of your greatness if I could see some deer." Then I changed to "wouldn't it be cool to see some deer?" As I was walking along, another person walked from the other direction and he scared a deer and I saw the white tail as he ran away. Ok, cool. So I continued on, taking some pictures of the trees and the river. Then I finally saw them. There were 2 deer hanging out in the woods eating. They even let me get about 25-30 yards from them and I could see them chewing and even saw a tongue. I stood there and just watched them for about 10 minutes. I didn't even mind the buzzing mosquito in my ear at this point. Thank you, God. I think that deer are the most beautiful creatures with the absolute sweetest faces. I got to see them up close tonight. I love that.
Look at that, I've been walking for an hour tonight! Why does that seem like nothing out here and yet in the gym, it's torture??!!!

So, I guess it's plain to see that despite the bugs in my nose and mouth and the muggy sweat dripping down the back of my neck, the treadmill could never beat the beautiful experience of walking on a trail amongst God's amazing creation.

Passing the nice, handsome man running the trail in the opposite direction three times? Just an added bonus!