Walking. Just Walking – End of the Day for March 22, 2014

Sometimes it is just about the walking.

We had a chance to walk twice today, a luxury in this busy part of the year. We needed to pick up the car from the service center, so when they called we set out on our mile walk just to get out of the house for a while. Sure, we had an accomplishment to achieve, but the walk itself what just about walking. One foot in front of the other, looking around us, maybe taking a few pictures. I have been carrying a camera everywhere I go for many years now (as you can probably tell by all the photos I posts here). You never know what is going to catch your eye and walking is the only way to capture most of it. It is impractical, not to say, absolutely dangerous to try and shoot photographs from a moving vehicle. You also notice different things when you walk. Time slows down. Vistas approach leisurely. Minute glimmers catch your eye as you pass.

After our car pickup we stopped by our favorite bakery for a small snack and then headed home for more work. We both got much accomplished today and I credit the walk for part of that. Getting out and clearing your head is create for you creativity and productivity. Sometimes, I get tied up with the need to walk for my health and weight loss, but in truth, walking any amount of time or distance is useful and helpful. I have to remind myself of that sometimes. If I can’t spare the time for my regular 2 mile walk, I can get in a 1 mile walk fairly easily. I walk about 3 miles and hour so we are only talking 20-40 minutes depending no the distance. Carrying my camera helps, as it makes me more observant of what I am passing and seeing on my walk and helps to make it pass more quickly and more enjoyably.

Rosanne walking in the Briar Summit Open Space Preserve – Read more about it!

While walking in beautiful areas is wonderful, even walking your own neighborhood can be fun, too. Tonight, Joe was going to be a play rehearsal until at least 9pm, so we did something we rarely do these days — we went out at night!?!? Of course, it still had a purpose. By driving to Burbank earlier, we would be in good position to quickly pick up Joe when he was ready. We headed out to downtown Burbank, near the mall, but spent out time walking the area that used to be the Golden Mall. It has changed so much since the time I worked nearby at Walt Disney Imagineering. It has tons of shops, restaurants and theaters and was quite hopping on a Saturday night. We walked. We looked. We browsed for books. in the end, we clocked another 1.5 miles of walking, although at a much slower pace than our morning walk. Again, though, any walking is good and walking in an area with lots to see is a great way of breaking out of you typical routine. We need to do it more.

You assignment, tomorrow, is to get out and walk somewhere. Walk to the store. Walk to a neighbors. Stroll around your neighborhood and try to find things you have never noticed before. Look at the plants, the animals, the people, the trees, the houses. Take your camera — even just your smartphone — and grab some pictures. You never know what adventures you might have.

Previously on End of the Day: