Do you have any pleasant walking memories?
When you were young, did you walk to school or other places on a regular basis? Did you have a dog that you took for a walk? Did you have a favorite place to go for a walk? Did you go on a hike in the mountains or through a wilderness area? Did you ever have to walk because you missed your ride?
If you were 150 years old or older, you might be able to tell about walking across the plains. If you are close to 100 years old you might be able to tell about walking several miles to school. Most people in the 21st century are not forced to walk. We choose to walk.
When I was young, we lived a mile from the elementary school. The bus stopped at our house and picked up my sister since she had to travel 15 miles to the high school. I could ride to the bus to school and didn't have to walk. I do remember choosing to walk the mile to town for some things, but usually my parents could give me a ride or I could catch a ride with the neighbor up the road. I did get frequent walks when I was assigned to go find the cow and herd her back to the corral in the evening.
A mile isn't too bad of a walk usually, but sometimes it can be difficult. As a teenager one morning in winter when the car wouldn't start I decided I could walk to town. It had snowed several inches over night. I didn't have boots, but usually I could deal with wading through some snow. I thought it wouldn't be hard to walk through the snow that morning. I had walked about three fourths of the way to town and my feet were wet and frozen. I was beginning to doubt my ability to make it to town, when someone I knew stopped and offered me a ride. I was very grateful.
I walked my children to school each day when they first started school and we lived about half a mile from the school. As they got older they walked to school together. Then we moved where it was 4 to 5 miles to the school, and they got to ride a bus.
At this time of my life I walk the dog every day. He needs the exercise and so do I. He waits expectantly for his walk, and he looks so disappointed if I can't give him a walk. So nearly every day we walk from half a mile to a mile depending on the weather and how much time I have.
I am so grateful I can walk. Spending four months not being able to walk, then standing on one leg, then hopping on one leg, and finally being allowed to walk with a walker and eventually back to walking on my own has left me very appreciative of the fact that I can walk. What a great blessing it is to walk.
Write down your memories of walks. Walking is an important part of our lives.
