Hello there,
Today's post is a topic dear to my heart. I have walked to work (or at least part of my journey) for a good 8 years. Before that, my journey included trains and walking.
Up until I was married, I had a blissful 17 minute walk to work from home. I loved my journey even though it went along main roads. I'd listen out for the blackbirds (I am a keen imitator of blackbird tunes- they are so prolific in their melodies and riffs), I'd admire the trees, especially when clad in delicate pink, Spring mantles of blossom, I'd think about the day, sing songs in my head (who needs a music-playing device when you have a song in your heart), pray, look up and anthropomorphize clouds, smile at people I passed by and before I knew it, I'd be there. It was probably about 3/4 of a mile, so I was very lucky to be so close.
Nowadays, I live around about 18 miles from work and so I must catch two trains to get there. From my house to the station, I have a mile exactly to walk and at the other end, 1/2 a mile. Thus I still have a fair walk- I'll walk 2-3 miles per day (depending on if I am really tired/late/it raineth and my husband picks me up on the way home).
Though my walk TO work is frequently occupied by thoughts of panic, "Oh rats, I am SO going to miss that train!" and long and desperate periods of run/walking with a final dash up the hill to make that train I am aiming for, it is also punctuated by moments of serenity, calm and the much-beloved time to be lost in my own thoughts.
You may have heard me talk about my lack of driving ability but I'm not sure, even though it would be better for days of inclement weather, that I would swap this often quite arduous journey for driving. Yes, I have two stretches of walking either way and two trains but I've known no different so why would I change that?
I KNOW I am lucky. When I wrote my 'To drive or not to drive?' debate, it prompted many comments from people who have no opportunity to walk to work. For example, Sophie in Sticks IN the sticks has no option but to drive- any of you who live off the beaten track face horrendously awkward bus journeys, infrequent, expensive and unpredictable and certainly couldn't walk to work.
At our school, we log our ways of travelling to school with the children- they must all track their mode of transport each day and it produces graphs. We run half-termly 'Walk or bike to school' events to encourage the big shift to sustainable transport. I do the 'Walk to school' log every Friday with a year 5 class and even in a term, I've seen that class go from virtually all coming by car, starting to walk, scoot or cycle. Certainly for children and those who ARE able to walk, such initiatives as 'Walk to work' week are a good idea for raising awareness and conscious decisions.
For me, I'd like to highlight some of the delights of my journey walking, even when I'm rushing, I can still think of these:
1. The Blackbird and the Robin who have conversations between the trees near the start of my journey. It is a definite conversation.
2. The walk by the lake. I see three puggle dogs walked every morning by two women who snuffle and grunt as I go by. There are various other dogs but I always notice the puggles thanks to my blog friend Nicole (and Gwendolyn)
3. There's always a comical moor-hen in the lake in the park who I smile at daily.
4. The satisfaction of having my heart beating fast and knowing I am doing it good every time I reach the station. I'm never cold when I reach it.
5. The house of 30 cats. There's a house near school which I walk the side-street route deliberately to see. Every morning, I peer in in a surreptitious manner from the pavement to count the cats in the window. There's all sorts and they sit or stand contentedly in baskets on the bay window. I smile in delight every time.
6. Seeing the same people every day. Some people I've started to exchange smiles with. We've never talked but we recognise each other. Nice to have a little friendly contact through familiarity.
What about you? How does walking play a part in your daily life? Is it possible? What would be your ideal?
Kezzie xx
P.S. Thank you for the kind comments you have left me over the last few days. I always appreciate you truly and I thank you for being a part of my daily blog. Thanks also to lovely Zoe Splodz and Liz Distract me for the kind follow!
I don't seem to walk much here- but using my bicycle LOTS which must be good for me! I pedal in a leisurely sort of way, I'm certainly not a Lycra Clad Tour De France racer - which leaves me enough breath to say "Hi!" to the postman etc
ReplyDeleteThat's my kind of cycling! I'm scared of going fast though I usually have to when cycling with my cycling whizz husband!x
DeleteMy walk to work at the moment takes 2 minutes (I work literally across the road!) Although this is amazing, I do miss having a longer walk. It sounds like there's loads to see on yours :)
ReplyDeleteLiz x
Distract Me Now Please
Must be VERY convenient! I miss the convenience- now it takes me an hour to get to work instead of 17 mins!x
DeleteI miss being able to walk to work. I loved it when I lived at Home, before we moved to the edge of town, and my school was a short walk away. But then we moved and school was a 5 ish mile drive away. Now I'd have to walk about 8 or 9 miles over the fields and down country lanes to get to the new school. *Sigh*... just makes me miss the old days even more, when I lived and worked in places I loved!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that must be really frustrating. Do you actually walk that 8-9 miles? That is impressive!!!
DeleteI'd walk a long way to see the house of 30 cats! That must be a very big bay window.
ReplyDeleteI've lost my way a bit on BEDM and am currently arguing it out with Power Director trying to piece together my walk to work which is actually just a walk out into the back garden, where I've been working like a woman possessed!
Zxx
There's not 30 in the window all the time! There's usually around 7. I know she has over 30 cats as her next door neighbour is a cleaner at school and we have discussed 'The cat lady' and she told me there are at least 30) but I knew there were lots as there are never the same cats in the window!
DeleteNo, come back to BEDM- you are my BEDM buddy!x
You're doing great on your BEDM challenge. All this walking will keep you fit and also energize you. I walk to work to the farm and I keep walking at a fast pace once I'm there caring for my calves, for about a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the late afternoon.
DeleteHave a great week.
Hugs,
JB
Thank you!. Your time is precious, I can imagine you keep up a fast pace! Can we have a calves update please!?!?! I want to see them again!x
DeleteI think it's great that you walk! It's a long journey, no doubt, but still, I prefer this way! I mean, I don't mind very much driving ... mmm, no, I do, so I do everything I can in order not to drive. I mean it, everything I can. It's more stressful, for me. We have to take care of the car next to us, in front of us, behind us, rain, buses, traffic lights,bicycles, motorcycles, oh my word, so many things. Bad when it snows, icy roads, then the huge costs of tyres, petrol, insurance, etc. I think I was convincing enough to myself :) because many people criticize because I don't like it. Now they have stopped a bit, they got used :) And walking has what you said: lakes, dogs, birds, people, fun... and it's great exercise! So, well done!
ReplyDeleteDenisesPlanet.com
Yes, I think I would be the same avoiding the driving! It's good that people have stopped critizing- how mean!x
DeleteI wish my town had trains. When I have visited other cities with rail systems I found it an amazing way to get around. My work is a 1/2 hour away and I so wish I could walk it. Very sweet notes on your journey! xo
ReplyDeleteAll Things Bright and Lovely
No trains Shamu??????? Oh my! I couldn't imagine it! I love visiting trains in different countries!! Yours is half an hour drive? Yes, that is too long!
DeleteDepending on which surgery I'm working at (we're a two site practice) I walk probably 3/5 days a week as I don't currently drive. I also walk just about everywhere else I need to be locally, and often at weekends too. This may all change come June, but I really like walking so I think even once I have a car I'll still be walking to work on those 3 days and as much as possible in-between, driving will be good for when I have no choice, but I was given functioning legs for a reason and I fully intend to make the most of them!
ReplyDeleteLast comment= very true!!!! I agree with the points you make. Ooh, where will you and Ben move in June!?x
DeleteI am very lucky because I walk to work every morning through a park. It really is the best way to clear your head before you get going. Have to agree with you re the blackbird. I think it is such an underrated bird considering the beautiful sounds that it makes.
ReplyDeleteYes, I LOVE the park-that is the best part! It was SO nice tonight! I took some photos and it was idyllic!
DeleteAs a musician, I am ever amazed by the blackbird. Oliver Messiaen wrote a piece for flute and piano which I learnt for a end of year recital at university called 'Le merle noir' - the blackbird and it is surprisingly accurate!x
Walks are great for clearing the mind. I walk everywhere, but then again, I'm centrally located. I drive once in a while but our car has very, very low mileage.
ReplyDeleteThey are! Lucky you for the location!x
DeleteWalking is wonderful for relaxing the mind and focussing on the day ahead. For a large part of my working life I spent at least a couple of hours a day commuting and when I quit corporate life and worked in Walsall for a few years it was wonderful to walk a couple of miles to work in all weathers. A surprising number of strangers would stop and offer me lifts (because of my limp) and often I would accept and make new friends. xxx
ReplyDeleteI bet it was wonderful and how nice to be offered lifts. I often see people down my road getting into cars as I walk in the mornings and I wistfully wish they'd offer me a lift when I am late! I've managed a lift 4 times in the 1.5 years I've lived here from my direct neighbours!
DeleteSince starting at the doctor's surgery in Oct I drive to work, the first time since starting my working life 30 years ago I use the car. Previously I walked or used the bus or train. I would love the go back to that, if I could get a similar job closer to home. Some days I leave the car at the park and walk the final part of the journey. Some days are so hectic at work that the walk back to the car can be very calming.
ReplyDeleteLisa x
Yes, it IS calming, I agree!x
DeleteBefore I retired I enjoyed driving and had to as I had to drive in all areas of my home county to do tutoring with the home and hospital teaching service and before that when I was involved with supply teaching. I was glad that I could drive. I've always enjoyed walking when I had the opportunity. Now we've retired to a very hilly city and county I would like to take long walks, but have to pace myself as my husband has to rest when we go out together. It's good that you can walk some of the way on your school days and that the children are encouraged to do the same if they're able to. There are so many benefits to walking.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a peripatetic music teacher or an ed psych or anything like that, you just can't do it without a car! Glad you can do some walking now!x
DeleteI think I *could* walk to work but I don't as I get up early and drive to the gym each morning before work so that I can swim or do a class. That's too far to walk - about 10miles from me, but I love the routine. There are no shops or anything within walking distance, so sadly I don't make the most of my lunch hour either - we're very much in the sticks and I tend to use my lunch time to run errands like going to the post office.
ReplyDelete10 miles is far too far! That's a shame about the location!x
DeleteI love walking and I walk the dog everyday (twice a day actually). Is also great that I can ask hubby to walk the dog alone if I'm not in the mood.
ReplyDeleteThat's good the dog gets you out there!x
DeleteI love walking but don't have far to go on my own. I walk my daughter to school and back which is a mile and half each way :) I want to walk more this is where I am talking my husband into buying me a dog :) watch this space, haha X
ReplyDeleteThat's great exercise- does her school do the Walkto Schooll thing too?
Deletex
I love that you are so aware of your surroundings and in the moment during your walks. So many people walk around with their head down or looking at their phones (I am guilty of this sometimes!). It's so much nicer to look around and take it all in.
ReplyDeleteI've been known to bump into lamposts if I do anything but look around me! I love looking at the common happy sights!x
DeleteWalking is one of the things I miss most these days. I miss being able to just step out of my house and go wherever I please, at my own pace. Even since being ill, when I used to go out for my (very short) walk most days, it was just nice getting out there and seeing people or things. We have cats along the road that I swear hold meetings and chat to each other. My sister and I are on to them! Being battered about in a wheelchair and being pushed by some else, isn't the same thing unfortunately. You're too busy looking out for holes in pavements, drop kerbs or squeezing past something.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how precarious you must feel and the worry of being tipped out! I am always anxious when I push the little boy in the wheelchair we have at school when I have to go over a bump!
DeleteCats Do have meetings! Tis a well known fact!x
I walk ALL the time - to school, to work (both shops), to town (ie. the city centre), to do the shopping, and I only give in and get a bus if I'm carrying lots of stuff and/or I'm late. I don't always love it in the driving rain (though ice is worse!) but I can't imagine life any other way.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear the positives about your walk to work! xxx
Hurrah!!!! Yes, occasionally a bus will come part of the way along my journey and I will jump on if late and wet! Well done yoU!x
DeleteMy walk to work consists of nothing more than stepping into my slippers and sleepily walking into the next room - sow times I even shower and dress too! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'd love a short, picturesque walk to work to blow away the cobwebs and help me prepare / wind down. My journey to work when I was in an office was my time just for me albeit behind the wheel.
How lovely that you can find such lovely things to marvel at even when in a rush!
Hello Mrs Smug!!!!;-)
DeleteYes, the pictureque nature of a walk is wonderful.x
It was fun to read the graphing exercise you do with your students, Kezzie, because nearly every year, I did the same one! When I worked downtown, I always took the bus ~ good thing too because that's how I met my husband (at a bus stop). But once I started teaching I had no option but to drive. I am a reluctant driver. I was in several traumatic accidents when I was young, and I have never managed to get past the fear. But I love to walk and hike and do so daily. I loved hearing about your walk and what you see. Have a good one!
ReplyDeleteI walk everywhere. I don't walk to work because I work from home at the moment but I do walk everywhere else. In a way, it is not even a choice for me, because we only have one car and I'm not a very good driver...
ReplyDeleteHowever, despite the fact that it is not exactly my choice I quite enjoy walking. I'm crazy fast on my feet and I can get from one point to another much quicker than a car because there is no city traffic or city jams for pedestrians.