Solitude at Two Miles an Hour -6/25/25

Something I appreciate as an adult much more than I did when I was young, was living on a dirt road. To be honest, I grew up near a dirt road, but when my sister and I were young, we would ride our bikes five miles into town that way during the summer, which was a lot for us, but our bodies recovered quickly. If we went the other way, it was paved, however 0.6 miles away was the covered bridge. My father and I (and sometimes my sister) would often walk past the covered bridge and up to the top of the road, 0.9 miles away from our house, before turning around and going back home. I will talk about covered bridges in a future blog as that’s another big topic for the northeast region, but for now, dirt roads it is! 

Why I mentioned walking as a kid was because six years ago, I bought my house, which is over an hour away from where I grew up. It’s on the corner of a paved road that goes uphill, and a flat dirt road. Nothing brought me greater joy than moving into this house, and I’ll tell you a big reason why: I really appreciate being close to nature. Over the years at work, I would eat my lunch on the clock but then on my actual lunch break, I would step out of work and go for a walk on the nearby nature trails, even when it was 90° and I was wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt. It’s important around here to take advantage of the warm weather while we have it, no matter what you’re putting yourself through to do it. And now that I live on a dirt road, I absolutely go for walks down it when I get the opportunity! There’s something very special and grounding about breathing in that fresh air, filled with the scent of pine trees, and hearing birds and insects chirping. It may not be much of a surprise to you that this simple activity gives you a little cardio workout, as well. It’s not much, but every little bit helps. And just as importantly, it’s great for your mental well-being. 

After my wife and I met and she moved in with me a couple years ago, we make it a ritual to go for regular walks, even in the middle of winter. And now that I’m out of the healthcare industry and doing this blog “full” time, we have even more time to get outside (she also works from home). On a side note, I’m taking this summer to improve myself, both physically and mentally. I’m very much aware that not everyone can get this sort of opportunity, so I’m very much grateful to have this time. Thus, it’s very important to me to keep going for walks whenever I can, to get that injection of fresh air, and to feel more at peace with everything. 

Something else I love about where we live is that when we DO go for walks, you will rarely encounter a car driving down our road, even though there are plenty of houses along the way. When a car does roll on by, almost everyone respects driving slowly and waving as they pass, as this is the way it should be done. Most of the time we’ll do a 1.75- or two-mile walk (we have our landmarks), and it can be a casual amble or a walk with determination (I had too much delicious food for dinner last night, and now I feel guilty about it, for example). 

Something else I appreciate about dirt roads whether you’re walking or driving on them, is that you get to see a lot of nice houses out there. I’ve found that some of the nicest houses I’ve ever seen are on dirt roads, and I think this must be because of privacy and beautiful locations. I’m not skulking around them by any means, just that when I go by them, I think to myself, that’s a really nice house. Just another reason to stop and look around once in a while. Now, if you’re out there alone, walking or driving on a good dirt road, it brings to mind the comparison of isolation versus solitude. Are they the same thing? Absolutely not! Isolation is an unwanted state and can have negative psychological impacts such as depression and anxiety, whereas solitude is a choice, which allows for self-reflection, walking/driving meditation, and recharging your batteries. This is an important distinction, and I firmly believe that giving yourself some personal time like this must be done on occasion. That is, until you come across some corrugation on the road when you’re driving, or as we call it, washboards. Washboards are essentially ripples in the dirt road that give you a nice jolt to drive over, even when you slow down significantly. We won’t get into the few mud seasons we have, either. Let’s just say that I’m happy we live at the end of the road that gives us a quick and easy exit without getting stuck in the mud when all the snow is melting and the spring thaw is happening (several times over). 

I’m going to end this segment with some bullet points and a quote about the health benefits of walking down a dirt road. You can find this information literally anywhere on the internet: 

• Stress reduction 

• It’s easier on the joints than walking on a paved road 

• Improved balance and strength 

• Improved mood and well-being 

• Enhanced focus/increased attention span and concentration 

• Connection to nature 

• It’s a decent cardio workout 

• Nature’s ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). Think repetitive gentle sounds like your footsteps that enhance your mindfulness and relaxation 

If you happen to have a Washington Post subscription, an article titled “I Hiked the Appalachian Trail. It Fixed my Brain,” was posted on 6/18/25 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/18/happiness-research-science-nature-outdoors/).

This great quote is inside that article: 

“‘We need the tonic of wildness,’ Thoreau wrote nearly two centuries ago. He knew what all human generations have known, intuitively. Time in nature improves our mood and clears our head. Now, we have a rich reservoir of experimental science to prove it. Study after study has found that a connection to nature enhances our hedonic well-being (sense of happiness) and our eudaimonic well-being (sense of worth and purpose), while lifting us from anxiety and depression and boosting our physical health. Contact with nature lowers our pulse, reduces cortisol levels, improves immunity, lengthens our attention span and reduces stress. Walking in nature, or even viewing pictures of nature or hearing nature sounds, improves our cognitive functioning, measured by tasks such as repeating strings of numbers backward.” 

Everyone needs a dirt road in their life. 

Next week, I’ll talk about Vermont/New England sayings, because that will be a fun topic!