I've just returned from a 5.42 mile walk around town. Well, not really around town, around the neighborhood and neighboring neighborhood. It was a bit brisk at times, but as we like to say this time of year, not bad when you're in the sun.
It's that time of year when I recommit to walking. The snow has melted, there is more daylight and it is so good to be outside when spring is starting to push through. I usually have earphones in, 80s pop playing. It's fair to say that I am stuck, musically at least, in this era because it's the best. No debate. Today, Belinda Carlisle's Mad About You played and that is an immediate return to the summer of 1986 when I walked to Bever Park three or four evenings a week. Up Grand Avenue, through the park to get in some hills and then back home by way of Blake Boulevard. There's a fair chance that I had a really cool mixed tape in my Walkman. Billy Idol certainly was on there as was Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys and OMD. Walking was the only regular exercise I did. When I had my long period of grounding, walking was the only activity that I could do other than work. My dear dad took pity on me and let me have that. Again, up Grand, through the park, back down Blake. I never strayed from that route, knowing that if Dad came looking for me and I wasn't there, another few weeks would be tacked on, neither of us wanted that.
When Danny and I moved to Cali, we were a one car couple, Danny driving to work each day and I walked to the Home Depot, the strip mall stores and eventually the Carlsbad mall to get a job! It amazed me at how unfriendly the area was to walkers. Many streets did not have sidewalks, intersections were huge and getting across on a light was a challenge. And air quality, not something I ever thought of in Iowa, was now a concern. But my need for waking was short lived as Danny deployed and I had the car. After the babies came, walking was less for exercise and walking became more strolling, looking at bugs, smelling flowers, picking up rocks. We were primarily in Cedar Rapids then and we were back in walking friendly neighborhoods.
And then we moved to Europe where walking is made easy, is expected and is delightful. Still not really walking for exercise, but pushing a stroller on cobblestone was exercise. We lived up town and to get downtown, we walked down the hill. The kinder were still in the waving phase so we either annoyed or delighted all the folks we passed. We had ample opportunity for ice creams and gyros. There were always fountains to stick hands in, dogs to see, rose gardens to wander through. We were so spoiled that every city was at our feet. I don't think we even realized the miles we covered on an average excursion, the girls often walking up the hills right along with us, Jacob, was either in me or on Danny's back. Six weeks before Jacob was born, the girls, Danny and I climbed up the minor mountain at the site of the 1936 winter Olympics, luckily, I had an eager Rottweiler to pull me along. Living in a world that encourages walking, that lays wide paths, has multiple snack stations, keeps nature clean was such a joy and it was difficult to return to a car dependent city.
Now I walk primarily for exercise and not as a means to go to the store etc. I periodically will have no drive days and if I want to go out, I walk. But to walk to the grocery store, I am required to cross several busy streets that have multiple turn lanes and walk lights that are not sufficient to get across. There is sidewalk on only one side, it is hectic and not at all enjoyable. Air quality comes to mind . If I go in the opposite direction, I can walk to a small shopping center that is not on a congested path. I wear a backpack and am limited to purchasing only what I can carry. I have yet to commit to a rolling pull bag that the shoppers in Germany used so many years ago, but I have considered it. When we lived in Germany, we would go shopping with the double stroller, never buying more than we could push home!
Now I walk primarily for clarity of mind. Even with 80s hits playing in my ears, I can clear my mind. I can sort through the day's and week's events. I can clarify my thoughts, mold my opinions and qualify my emotions. An average 5 mile walk takes me over an hour. That is an hour that I cannot access social media, cannot scroll through the news, cannot read an email or text message or even answer the phone. Sadly, I don't always have that kind of will power on my own, but the walk forces it from me. I may replay conversations in my head, which is not particularly healthy, but I also have the power to literally walk away from that negative moment. I can turn off my Pandora and repeat my own mantra that matches the steps I take. I can switch to a jog or even a run to speed up my positivity or to outdistance the negativity.
Walks are powerful places to escape as I did when I was grounded, to explore as we did in Europe or to bring me figuratively home as they do now. With Nora, walks again have become less for exercise and more strolling, looking at bugs, smelling flowers, picking up rocks. We can also add waving at planes, saying hi to the mail carrier, watching the boys play basketball, mooching a tree and pointing out the kitty tracks in the dried cement. And these type of walks are equally good at providing clarity of mind. What gets you out? What clears your mind? What keeps you moving? I am grateful that I found one activity that provides all these benefits.
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