Stress Reliever

Walked to work without a jacket of any kind today. So, so nice. The breeze which was in my face half the time was gentle and only slightly cool—just enough to say, “Hey, wake up.”

I was thinking on my way in about how stressful this week’s been…mostly work-related. Thankfully, walking is considered one of the better stress relievers. Things were different, for me, in Austin. I had a 20 minute commute straight through the heart of downtown, which meant a lot of stop lights and a lot of cars within inches of mine. It was actually a stress inducer, not reducer. Of course, as a librarian, I don’t have a ton of stressful weeks…but when I do, I’m glad my pedestrian commute never requires me to change lanes or slam on the brakes.

On a related note, I spotted something I hadn’t seen yet this year…someone biking…and not just for exercise. The rider was wearing khakis & a backpack, like he was on his way to work or school. It was a pleasant surprise. Our town is anything but a bicycle culture. I still remember the student (years ago), when finding out what church my family was thinking about visiting, said, “Oh, you don’t want to go there. That’s where all the professors who ride their bikes to campus go to church.” And he wasn’t kidding. Whoever thought that bicycling (and perhaps walking) places would be so countercultural? Anyway, be “weird” with me tomorrow & observe National Walk to Work Day (April 2nd)!

P.S. Picked up a plain white straw from the sidewalk near the corner of Main Street. It looked like it’d been mowed over a few times or like someone had chewed it up and spit out out…a few times.