Thoughts from a walk to the station in the morning, through wooded lanes. This is really ‘everyday’ mindfulness, as focus is not on a podcast or music, but what is going on around oneself, the sights, sounds, smells…

Sight: day is on the verge of breaking, the receding morning gloam beginning to barely brighten the sky. The contrast between the black silhouette of eucalyptus canopy and the faint blue-black sky is great. On an overhead cable a wise owl rests monitoring its hunting ground.

Sound: full on dawn chorus from the birds. Magpies, myna, currawong, pigeon and many many more are there. The crunch of the gravel path near the creek. The clinking of the metal zip fasteners on my bag.

Smell: actually amazing intermittent flower shop strength smells of tree blossoms, from various wattles that are in flower at the moment. Later, the smell of the creek, wet and fertile, a different humidity in this area.

Touch: I’m wearing thin soled running shoes this morning. On the gravel path near the creek I can feel individual stones as I crunch over them. It is painful but it doesn’t hurt. It is good to feel.