In observation of being the final day before it gets dark earlier I went on a long walk to appreciate today’s sunlight—and it turned out to be too sunny and now my skin’s quite rosy! In the late afternoon a refreshing thick fog rolled in and the battle switched to having to wipe my glasses dry every few minutes.

Today I walked thru neighborhoods largely unfamiliar to me, like Hunter’s Point, Bayview, and Visitacion Valley. Many of the blocks and dead-ends were industrial, sidewalkless, and not standard streets for a stroll. One unexpected blessing was walking along an industrial alley of questionable safety (it had no sidewalks and industrial trucks weaved in and out) and suddenly coming to an opening of the Bay, to a marshy place, and seeing lots of seabirds.

Once darkness came I walked the length of Castro Street and was gobsmacked by the beautiful view from the top of Billy Goat Hill, the long, long winding steps all the way to the bottom, and from the sheer surprise that I had never been to that park before.

A little while later, approaching mile 18 or 19, I started to feel that feeling in my gut that sometimes visits on days when walks approach 20 miles. The energy of the feeling has such sprightliness to it, and qualities of brightness, lightness, and joyfulness. There’s a restorative “emptiness” to it, in the good Buddhist sense of empty. For the first time I thought to ask myself when the feeling came, “What would I call this?” and I was surprised when the word “Love” came so quickly to mind. I came to see why many spiritual paths might have an exercise component to them.

Once home I thought to ask ChatGPT what a “runner’s high” feels like, since that’s a term I’d heard before. It replied: “a feeling of euphoria, reduced stress, and well-being.” I realize now I have this handy common term for the phenomenon, ”a runner’s high.” Yet “Love” embodies it much more closely.