We often hear, “It’s so good to get out, to be outdoors.” I’ve always loved the “outdoors.” Or being on the “out” side of a “door.”

Most of my out-door loving is on the shore. My woods walks—I’d hardly call them hikes, except for the Corps—were infrequent, yet memorable, especially the earthy aroma. I remember the strange sensation of wanting to dive into the black, leaf-covered soil and swim in it.

Weird, I know, but I had a sense of oneness with it, a feeling of earth as home, as I often feel so at home on the shore. I see life sharing life with me.

In the woods, creatures are bounding, and trees are reaching for clouds. At the shore, birds are gliding and whales are breaching. All on Earth, the home we all will return to—eventually. But now we’re alive, you, my friends, and I.

I recently sat looking out to sea, watching for dolphins or whales. As I turned my head from one side to the other, a Marine marched by.

At least he looked like a Marine, field-marching pack, steady gait across the sands. By the time I spotted him, he was too far past to hear me over the crash of waves.

But I did spot him again about a week later and asked about his journey.

Billy Heller, like many others during the COVID-19 pandemic, was furloughed from his job. He was a wholesale flooring salesman. He said, “I’m not used to doing nothing. I always liked walking; it’s something I always did with my dad.”

Billy and his dad, Michael, a VP at a printing company, walked the 2.2-mile boardwalk every weekend for many years.

Billy not only discovered the trails of Long Island but also the Appalachian Trail. It runs from Georgia to Maine; Billy hikes segments of it.

He said next week he’s going to hike from Pennsylvania, through Maryland, into West Virginia. He later sent me some photos of the hike.

Billy, fifty-eight, grew up in Long Beach, NY, just as his mother did. He attended school in Long Beach, as did his extended family. His son, Aaron, attends Long Beach High School.

I asked Billy what he thinks about as he walks our shore. He said, “The idea is to be as present as possible.”

Ah, a brother.

But Billy said, “It’s very challenging. My mind will wander to upcoming tasks or things from the past. But I make an effort to circle back and be aware of the sound of the ocean and the birds. I like to watch the birds hunt for fish.”

Billy said, “I tend to have a very active mind, sometimes too active. I’m always trying to improve upon that and be more present because when you’re present, it’s more comfortable. Certainly more than thinking about a lot of things that you’re not dealing with at the moment. If I’m able to put the phone away and just be present, I always feel better.”

I asked if he preferred walking on the beach or in the woods. Billy said, “I enjoy both. I would say the woods are really devoid of distraction because, in many places where I walk, there are great lengths of time without seeing anybody, and it’s really just quiet.” 

Nature therapy has been scientifically shown to be a fantastic way to improve mental health. Whether on the beach or in the woods, it enriches our lives in many ways. Much of it involves exposure to the blue-green spectrum in nature.

Billy walks eight to fifteen miles twice a week. Twenty-mile beach hikes about twice a year—with his thirty-pound pack. That’s a significant boost for both physical and mental health.

About pain, Billy said, “Walking in the sand works my calves; when you’re going uphill, you need your calves. So yeah, I definitely walk with some pain. I’m not a young man.”

Billy said a close friend who teaches yoga showed him how to repair those muscles.

Billy works through pain.

He said years ago, “I was going to the gym and started having terrible shoulder pain. I didn’t know I had arthritis. I stopped using my left arm. I made it worse.” He said, “I got cortisone and lubricant shots. I just changed my exercise. I do yoga moves. And instead of push-ups, I’ll do planks to not irritate the arthritis. I find walking to be good because it doesn’t tend to injure you.”

Billy said, “On the beach, I try to stay near the shore because the sand is more compact. But the slope varies with the tide.”

I asked Billy if he was an athlete in school. He laughed. He said, “I was thin, noticeably.” He said his family laughed at the teachers’ concerns about his weight. The family joked among themselves that the teachers might have felt a need to contact Child Protective Services or something. They laughed at the thought.

Billy laughed as he told me and said, “My mother told them, ‘Go to the lunchroom and watch him before you get concerned.’ Then the teacher would watch me eat my food and anything left over of my friends.” He said, “I ate like an animal, but I just couldn’t gain weight. I graduated from high school 5′ 8” and 110 lbs.

Billy wasn’t into sports much, but he said, “I ran cross country from sixth through tenth grades. But I think I overdid it because my knees became a problem.”

Billy Heller is again taking a new path on this trail of life.

He just became a licensed home inspector. He said, “If someone is buying a house, they contact a home inspector to check it out.” Billy can be reached at 516-225-5318.

Long walks started with his dad. Billy said, “Like most teenagers, I wasn’t that interested in my dad. But I would say in my mid-20s, I became very close with him.”

I’m reminded of words often attributed to Mark Twain: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But, at twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

But, indeed, the human prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until the mid-twenties. That’s why so many of us are “jerks” till the mid twenties.

Father-son bonding, by Sanjana Lagudu speaks of the value and many ways to build bonding. It can serve as a keel in the rough sea of life.

Billy and his dad walked our boardwalk for thirty-five years.

He and his dad would often discuss politics and business. Billy said, “We talked about whether I should own my own business or work for somebody. He had good insight, smart guy.”

Billy especially recalls his dad being a glass-half-full guy.

Billy said, “He told me life isn’t fair, and play the cards you are dealt. So he always approached things  not expecting fairness, but to just do whatever needed to be done to succeed.” 

Michael Heller sounds like he was a realistic man, a man who moved forward, one step at a time, despite the hills and valleys.

Billy said, “The last few years, he wasn’t walking too well. Actually, a little bit in a wheelchair.”

Billy’s dad died about five months ago, but his legacy lives on. Billy thinks of him often as he walks and has followed much of his advice.

So, amid the crash of waves and the scurry of squirrels, Michael Heller’s words echo in Billy. And in turn, perhaps his son, Aaron, too.

Out doors, it so healthy for us. It’s home for all life. Let’s care for it better.

Be well,

Leebythesea