Every time we move, it takes me a minute to find my walk.

My every day walk.

Last year it was walking the campus of Augustana College.

We moved a few miles away from the college in August, and I tried out several neighborhood walks.

Sometime in October, I found Chippiannock Cemetery, and since then, I have been walking with dead people.

Chippiannock is a Sauk and Fox Indian word that means village of the dead.

Which is fitting because throughout the pandemic, many of my most frequent companions have been dead people:

St Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila and Mary Oliver.

There are lots of old stones, and even older trees.

I walked through it when it they were all changing colors.

Bright leaves were  shining in all colors to signal that they too were dying.

I don’t know if there is a more beautiful death than autumn.

I always feel an urgency about walking in autumn, like if I skip a day, I might miss the brightest shades of yellow, red and orange.

The graveyard is so large that I don’t see all of it in a day. I only read a few of the stones each time and then I hurry past the rest.

So it was several visits before I found this statue of St Francis.

Ever since walking with St Francis, I love spotting a statue of the saint.

This one is larger than normal. And St Francis’ prayer is printed below it.

There is a little ringed stone path in front of the statue, so I’ve made a habit of stopping here to rest.

I sit and read the prayer.

I write in my journal.

Or read a book.

On a warm day, I might sit here half an hour or more.

I keep trying to memorize the prayer but I forget it just as soon as I walk away.

But then I keep coming back to say it again.

Soon after all the leaves came down, I left to go for a long walk in Arkansas.

When we returned from winter in Arkansas, the graveyard was covered in snow.

But after a few weeks, the snow started melting and slowly I returned to my everyday walk.

The snow melted off of the familiar stones and statues.

And then like magic, new life started to appear in this village of the dead.

Spring is waking the world up all over our town right now, but in the cemetery, the Magnolia liliiflora are stealing the show.

Even the evergreens are brighter from the spring rains.

The weeping pines are edged in new pink pinecone berries.

The needles are softer.

I love to stand underneath the pines. This week I sat underneath one while I watched four deer walk through the graveyard, stopping every few feet to eat from the new green grass.

They are here like me, to taste of the miraculous generosity of the earth, a world that is being remade before our eyes.

It is still cold here and when I step outside, I often have to go back in for another layer.

But the days are getting warmer, longer and more soaked with light.

The hope of spring is here, so I have been cracking my window at night to let it in.

And so I loved finding these words while reading from Gathering Moss:

I shiver in the damp breeze, but I can’t bring myself to close the window on this April night that is sliding off the cusp of winter into spring.

And then, at the end of the same chapter, these words:

…we are all connected by our common understanding of the calls filling the night at the start of spring.

It is the wordless voice of longing that resonates within us, the longing to continue, to participate in the sacred life of the world.

To participate in the sacred life of the world.

A part of the sacred life for me will always be walking outside.

And this year I will remember that the sacred life was also being near death.

I’ve been walking with reminders all around me of how very brief life is.

I watched the TV adaptation of The Good Lord Bird this winter and one of my favorite parts was the end where abolitionist John Brown points out how very short our life is.

He snaps his fingers to show how quickly it passes.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter.

The seasons seem to pass almost as quickly as the time it takes to scroll through the photos I have taken of them.

A blink.

I’m just trying to stay awake for it.

The post The Same Walk Every Day: Graveyard Walking appeared first on Alison Chino.

We’re moving today, so it seems like a good time to say thank you to the walk I’ve taken almost every day in the year that we’ve lived here.

Since we move around quite a bit, I have come to really value the ability to take the same walk every day as a way to get to know a place.

I have watched the seasons change in front of these buildings and bridges.

Some days, I have worn as many clothes as possible and other days I’ve felt like I was going to melt in shorts and a tank top.

I think I will still walk the Augustana Campus in the year ahead, but it will be a little further to get there, so we’ll see.

I’ll still at least go see the fall colors and the winter snow.

Even if I have to wear a mask to be on campus, I’ll go and walk there again.

But I’m also curious about my new neighborhood.

I wonder where I will walk in the coming year, and what I will see every day.

This week as I took my last walks from the house where we’ve lived, I prayed that even in the time of Coronavirus and Quarantine, I might make a friend in my new neighborhood.

Maybe there is somebody else who likes to take walks every day.

In all kinds of weather.

But whether I walk with a friend or with Taido or Simon, or alone, I plan to keep walking.

I plan to find a route that is mostly the same every day.

So that my body just takes the steps unconsciously.

So my mind can wander and meditate.

Each step takes me a little closer to the kind of day I want to have,

and towards the kind of person I want to be.

Each step is training for a one-day-in-the-future long walk.

Each step helps me work through whatever is going on in my mind and in my heart.

And each step is filled with something new.

Even if the walk is the same,

It’s never really the same.

The world is new every day.

As long as I am paying attention, I get to see it.

There is still so much uncertainty about the year ahead.

Which is partly why I need the rhythm of taking the same walk every day.

When the world is going crazy,

and nothing makes sense, (like fall and winter being all mixed up)

I can follow the path that I know,

even through the changes.

I walk and pray. And walk and breathe. And walk and be present.

I walk and offer whatever healing I can through my steps.

And somehow I am also healed in the process.

But somehow it’s like manna, I need to do it again almost every day.

Today’s steps are for today.

Tomorrow’s are for tomorrow.

At least that’s how it seems to work for me.

As I walk into a new year,

with even fewer ideas about what the year could possibly hold than I did last year,

I hold on to the idea that I’ll still be walking out my front door…

to see the world.

And then coming home and writing down in notebooks what I see.

The flowers and butterflies. The snow and rain. The wind and the heat.

One of my favorite walking quotes is from Soren Kierkegaard. I come back to it again and again:

He says:

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk, every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it…but the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill…thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be alright.

…if one just keeps on walking, everything will be alright…

I’m going to keep telling myself that.

And hopefully this time next year, I will have a new collection of images,

from taking the same walk every day.

Onward, friends.

The post The Same Walk Every Day: Augustana College appeared first on Alison Chino.

The last few weeks in Tübingen, Germany have been so gorgeous that I am not going to complain about the fact that for some strange reason, it has been snowing here for the last two days.

I just hope the snow doesn’t freeze or destroy all the sweet blossoms that are popping out everywhere.

The boys have been on Easter break so we have had lots of extra days out walking in beautiful Baden-Württemberg.

Like this ridge walk in the Swabian Alb, to a cross on a hilltop.

If you zoom in on the cross it says, Anna, Ich liebe dich, or Anna, I love you.

This is just one of many small gifts of being outside hiking that have made me smile this month.

A few other gifts:

Catching bits of the Camino all around Germany.

Watching my boys run ahead of me through the trees.

The sunlight on the trails.

Green grass growing brighter every day.

Blue skies. Budding trees.

Walking through this cloister at least once a week.

Views of Bebenhausen growing more colorful every time I walk by.

Golden yellow blooms.

New crops growing on the farm near our house.

Mossy forest floor.

New hiking boots.

Pink blossoms.

Being around little ones again.

White cherry blossoms.

Being invited by a new friend to walk trails full of cherry blossoms.

Hearing all about cherry blossom festivals in Japan.

Picnics outside on blue sky walking days.

Walking with friends.

Learning the difference between an apple blossom, a cherry blossom and a pear blossom.

Seeing beehives.

Putting away vitamin D bottle and digging out the sunscreen.

Following Taido and the boys through the woods.

Seeing the biggest landslide in the region with a rock expert!

Finding a huge swing and having friends to share it with.

April birthdays.

The boats appearing on the Neckar River in Tübingen after months of being put away for winter.

Gliding underneath the weeping willows.

A serenade on the river.

A perfect day for a ride on a boat.

Or for eating gelato by the river.

Being outside

Want to keep up with all of my travels? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to future posts by email or receive my occasional email newsletter.

The post Snapshots of Walks in Germany in Spring appeared first on Alison Chino.

We have been in our new home in Tübingen, Germany for over a month now.

And I have to say that I have struggled to put together this first post from Germany, because I want to strike a balance between the two extremes of HELLO GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF OUR NEW HOME TOWN and HEY WE MOVED TO ANOTHER NEW COUNTRY AND IT IS HARD.

I think we all know that reality is usually different from how things look.

Even when they look super cute. Which they do.

In reality, Tübingen is one of the cutest places I have ever seen. If I was a visitor here, I would probably wish I could live here.

Tübingen is a university town in Southern Germany of 85,000 people, but if feels more like a big village. A big lovely village.

But in reality, our boys would be quick to tell you that they don’t find it lovely.

In my first few days here, Ben and I walked to the top of a hill in the center of the town and looked out over the rooftops.

Looking super far out into the distance you can see a high rise at the top of a hill, and we are living in some temporary housing right next to that high rise. (In a couple of weeks we are moving to a flat in the same neighborhood.)

It’s about a 30 minute bus ride to the center of town. Or a 45 minute walk.

It’s a bit longer than that to the south side of town where the boys are going to school.

The reality is that we spend a lot of time at bus stops or on buses.

People leave books that they have finished at bus stops, which is super fun.

I bet it is even more fun if you can read German.

The reality is that because we live at the edge of town, we can be in the woods in about five minutes.

And in the woods there are trees with books inside of them that you can take for free. And that is super cute.

Of course the books are all in German.

The reality is that school is hard and learning a language is very, very slow and you mess up and feel stupid a lot. But also on every corner there is a place to buy a scoop of gelato for about a dollar.

The reality is that we eat a lot of gelato.

This is really and truly the center of the town where we live. People sit on the edge of the river and eat lunch on pretty days.

There are these long boats called punts that people ride up and down the river.

And it is pretty dang picturesque.

And next to the river is a long island lined with old trees. It is a gorgeous spot to walk or take a picnic or a book.

In the old town are two different squares. One is where the church is and the steps next to the church serve as sort of a constant gathering space. We meet up there often to grab something to eat from one of the stalls or shops in town.

On every corner there is a bakery where you can get a pretzel or a loaf of bread for dinner.

Or a coffee. So much coffee.

Heading to town after school for a treat is a super regular occurrence.

Or sometimes I just bring pretzels from the bakery straight to the bench where Simon and I meet after school.

The treats are many in this town. And I keep finding new ones.

Food is definitely a theme of our new life in Germany.

The reality is that I love shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables at the many markets that happen around town.

I got a basket to fit in with all the other mamas and papas doing their daily shopping for dinner.

What I can fit in this basket is about what I can carry. And also what will fit into my fridge.

So daily shopping it is, at many different shops and stalls.

Including a frequent stop at the farm up by our flat where you can fill your glass bottles with fresh milk or buy cheese and eggs out of a vending machine when the farm shop isn’t open. I. Kid. You. Not.

Also sometimes we just grab an apple off the tree while walking.

We didn’t have any bowls or coffee mugs at our current apartment so I spent my birthday money carefully selecting a few pieces of locally made pottery at one of the weekend markets in town.

Serving meals on these dishes and drinking coffee and tea out of these mugs makes me smile every day. Small, simple beauties are powerful.

On Sundays we’ve been attending a little international church that meets in a room underneath a grocery store. The service is in German, and while I sit there for two hours listening and not listening, tuning in and tuning out, I get a little window into what school must be like for our boys.

But there are notes/handouts in English and also my Bible is in English, and the pastor’s wife serves lunch after church every week so you can stick around and visit with people.

It’s not home to me yet but there have been moments.

Glimpses of what heaven will be like when I sit at a table and share food and conversation with people from all over the world. Last week, Simon and I sat with new friends from India, China, Taiwan, Nigeria and Mauritius.

This town is HECKA international.

And when you walk across the main bridge in town, you can imagine why people might be drawn to come and spend a season here, but really the university is attracting the world because of a little detail called Free Tuition For Everyone In Germany.

Like for reals. At least three of the people I met last week came here for a few months to study German so they could apply to go to university here. You just need the first couple of levels of German to get in, and there are classes everywhere you can enroll in for a summer or a few weeks at any time of year.

I am starting my language classes next week, but not so I can go to university.

I’m just hoping to be able to tell the lady at the bakery and the man at my vegetable market to have a nice day.

Three or four times a week I walk through this park on my way to meet Simon at school because he and Ben don’t always get out at the same time.

I also walk down this long stairway.

And past this building covered in graffiti. There’s actually loads of street art in Tubingen.

These are the stairs to the office where Taido studies and writes, and they also lead to the room where his classes are. The reality is that Taido loves it here.

We had our first visitor last week. Major highlight for sure!

Nicola was so kind to come and visit before we really know what we are doing as far as traveling around Germany. As a result we spent a lot of time waiting for trains and buses, but she was such a great sport!

She also climbed to the top of the main cathedral tower with me, which the boys haven’t wanted to do.

After we looked out over the rooftops and took in the surrounding hills,

we found a table in the square below where we had coffee and sat and watched the people. It’s turning cold, but there are blankets draped on the chairs in the squares so you can still sit outside and chat with your friend over coffee.

We also made a trip to the nearby Ritter Sport chocolate factory.

Hello every kind of chocolate imaginable.

Our biggest outing with Nicola was a hike to a nearby castle.

Fall is definitely in the air here in Germany, and Nicola and I were very cold, but flowers were still in bloom in the windows and it was so nice to have my friend with me in our new home. Also she speaks German.

This week the leaves have turned bright yellow all over town, and we got a few more days of blue sky.

We did a walk to a chapel on a hill last weekend in the sunshine.

The trails around Tübingen seem to be super well maintained and they lead to lovely places.

This little village is called Bebenhausen and I walk the five mile loop there and back a few times a week because it’s my favorite so far.

So that’s pretty much our first month: lots of walking and meeting up with the boys and praying for them while they are at school.

Plus searching for a new place to live and filling out eleventy million forms and fumbling through German, shopping for Brot, Wein und Kase (bread, wine and cheese).

There is a chocolate festival here on the first weekend of December so more friends are coming from Aberdeen, because hello CHOCOLATE + FESTIVAL = good idea.

And then the Christmas Market happens in Tübingen the next weekend.

So the reality is that there are good things in store for us.

I’m hoping maybe one of those things is that the boys start to like it here as much as Taido does.

Want to keep up with all of my travels? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to future posts by email or receive my occasional email newsletter.

The post Snapshots from Tübingen: Our First Month in Germany in Photos appeared first on Alison Chino.

Near daily I have walked along the River Don.

It is the path to school. The path to town. The path to Tesco.

On long summer evenings I walk it after dinner and watch the sky change colors.

I know I will breathe easier and sleep better, so I slip out and wander down, letting the river and the wind take my thoughts.

Sometimes I listen to podcasts. Sometimes I listen to music.

Sometimes I just pray.

Some evenings or on Sunday afternoons, Taido walks it with me. We walk fast and process the day’s events in snippets of conversation.

Sometimes I get a text from my friend Joy. The river is halfway between us and we meet on the bridge to walk and pray.

I have smiled, sung, laughed, cried and fretted on these paths.

I have seen them in the rain.

I have walked them in snow and ice and in the bright sunshine.

I know what’s around the corner.

And how long it will take me to get there and back.

I know exactly where to stop for a rest.

I know where the raspberry and blackberry bushes grow, and when they will be in season.

I know where the only wisteria I have ever seen in Aberdeen grows in the spring.

And I know to increase my loops through the secret garden when it starts to come in more fully.

And to reserve long afternoons for sitting on the benches with a notebook if the sun is out in the summer.

But in winter, I still bundled up and walked these trails.

On cold days, I still detoured now and then through these walls to the garden.

The bare vines are placeholders for what I know will later bloom.

I have photos to remind me that there will be flowers here again.

Lots of flowers.

The crisp days will eventually melt away into softer seasons.

The slanting sunlight will return.

Simon and I first discovered the garden along this walk in late autumn.

It was all yellow and green and just before winter.

We ran around the loop and came back a few weeks later to sit on the benches with our fish and chips from a nearby “chippy.”

It’s become a familiar refuge. A hideaway.

I know these trails when they are in bloom and the green growth is plentiful. But also I know them in the most scarce seasons when the sun seems stingy with its heat.

When the leaves change colors and when they are all on the ground.

I have walked and walked these paths. They are a part of an earned familiarity in Aberdeen that I will miss.

But I know also that I will find new gardens and paths.

And when friends and family come to visit me in Germany,

I will show them my hidden corners and all the places I have found to wander when the sun comes out to play.

So I’m saying goodbye to these weathered trails and making room on the little white benches in Persley Walled Garden for another family of wanderers to find and enjoy.

The post Walks in All Seasons along the River Don to the Persley Walled Garden appeared first on Alison Chino.

The bridge goes over the Don River and it is how we get from where we live just north of the Don into the city center.

We walk over this bridge to go to church, to school and to get to the university.

Sometimes, if I’m being very ambitious, I walk over it to go all the way into town or to the beach.

I take friends who visit along this bridge so they can get a feel for what our daily life is like in Scotland, walking back and forth across this river, walking to buy groceries and walking along this river.

I try to remember to snap a photo of friends on this bridge whenever they visit, but sometimes I forget.

On a wet day, the boards on the bridge are slick, but the rain makes the bridge seem brighter somehow.

At night there are lights above the bridge so you can see your path.

The structure of the bridge makes little frames of the river and sky.

In every season, the landscape is different.

Some days the trees and sky are painted with mist.

At the beginning of the year, the river got so high that the bridge was damaged and it has been closed ever since. This month we have all been walking on an alternate bridge that is also open to cars, so we miss our little pedestrian bridge. We’re hoping it opens back up soon!

Years from now, I think this little bridge will be one of the funny details we will all remember from our Aberdeen life.

The post Snapshots of Aberdeen: The Green Bridge appeared first on Alison Chino.

In honor of wishing I was smack dab in the middle of a giant family gathering today, I am sharing an ode to one of my favorite spots in my hometown, Lakewood Lake.

A Love Letter to Lakewood Lake

You have been my stomping grounds since I was a wee thing.

My sister and I used to jump in the water after sweating through church picnics in the neighboring pavilion.

In high school, I started running the loop around you with friends, trying to work off all those curly fries and milkshakes from our waistlines.

I wandered around you in the dark after school dances. I may or may not have kissed a boy or two under the trees that surround your shores.

My mom and I both have measured our improving or declining health by how many times we can do the mile loop that circles you.

And I have measured each of my children’s growths by what they can reach on the playground or how high they can climb on the structures that are so old that my parents climbed them as children.

The kids all played in Saturday soccer games on the fields next to your waters, and Taido has played tennis with them all on the courts.

We have come to see you straight from school on many afternoons to burn off energy, play at the park and eat snacks at the picnic tables.

I cannot begin to number the times I have come here to read, to write or just be alone with my thoughts. To take a deep breath.

There are few bad days that an hour at Lakewood Lake could not improve for me.

Every time I see a picture from home of you, I die a little inside. I miss you so much. I live near the sea here in Aberdeen, Scotland, so you would think that would be a fine substitute for a small neighborhood lake. But the North Sea is not holding all my life memories like you are, Lakewood Lake. It is almost as if the water itself is keeping vigil over my stories of growing up and living in Arkansas. And when I return, you hand them back to me one at a time, or let me add a new one.

I love you in every season and in all sorts of weather, and you can bet that you will be one of the first places I go when I make my way back to Arkansas.

PS. Friends, if you live near the lake, walk a loop for me today after you eat your Thanksgiving feast and send me a photo. 

Is there a place in your hometown that is like this for you? I would love to hear about it!

Want to keep up with all of my travels? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to future posts by email or receive my occasional email newsletter.

The post A Love Letter to Lakewood Lake appeared first on Alison Chino.