Looking out my office window at the rainfall reminds me that the time is now upon me to abandon my car for as much of the spring/summer/fall season as I can manage. Though I don't always get the time to do it, the 2 mile walk from my house to the university campus takes me through a nice variety of settings -- old treed central neighbourhood to bustling commercial district and then, astonishingly, though a large urban park filled with thick vegetation, water, birds and even a small zoo, and then ending (sadly, the nastiest part of the whole trip) with a labyrinthine negotiation through the series of huge parking lots that surround the university.
The walk influences my perceptions of space on every level, beginning with the fact that I have a proper understanding of where my home is relative to my usual workplace. The walk normally has a restorative effect on me as well. Instead of bursting through the door on my arrival home and heading straight for the martini shaker, I find that the contemplative rhythms of the walk through the park have normally shaken loose a creative thought or two so that I'm more likely to race to the nearest keyboard to get some thoughts down on paper.
It's funny then how much of municipal and public health policy attention is focused on finding ways to encourage all of us to walk more. The benefits are so obvious you'd think it would be an easy sell.
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