The Village to Village Network nationwide has a chapter right up the street. They are quite the bunch of go-getters who have gone-got in life already, and are still at it now and full of new ideas.

The VVN has a new walking club. Last week our leader coordinated a hike. It was a perfect day, clear with pleasant sunshine and a bracing breeze. So a group of folks carpooled to the trail, and we set out.

The weather and the trail were on our side. The path is level, broad, and clear, about three miles through thick woods with towering trees but right along the lakeshore with its wonderful sky views of the downtown miles away.

We even heard a tuneful twittering deep in the conifer cover overhead. The others immediately recognized this as the calls of bald eagles. In great anticipation I unzipped my waist pack, grabbed my cell phone, punched in my pass code, chose Photo, and leaned way back just as the eagle family soared on out of sight. Yes, Nature’s grandeur is what happens before and after I turn on my phone.

The conversation was lively with a pace of its own, sometimes with everybody chiming in together and other times with people pairing off and dropping back to delve into special topics and stories. It’s a pattern that reaches right back to shared traditions worldwide: people on the move, in groups, sharing their thoughts as they go. It was especially good to share it with folks who are so well prepared to be pleased.

It was a nourishing time to be treasured on a winter’s day.