Decisions, Decisions

Heard an NPR radio piece this morning dealing with getting exercise into our lives, specifically our kids' lives.  The first mom interviewed talked about driving here & there (all week long) in an effort to keep her kids active...for example, taking kids across town to basketball practice.  She lamented how much of the time is actually spent driving, though, instead of exercising.  She described all that commuting as pretty much 'wasted' time.  The next interviewee was a mom who lived in a neighborhood in which she (and kids) could walk seemingly everywhere they needed...to the park, the hospital, stores, etc.  She didn't mention a "library," but I'm sure she was thinking it :-)  In fact, they didn't even own a car.  She spoke about the deliberate "decision" her family made when they were looking for a home to be close to all those resources.

It made me think of my own family's decision to live close enough to campus for me to walk.  I remember how difficult it was on our realtor (poor guy).  He had all these neat houses in our price range that he just knew we'd like—houses that were across town or just outside of town.  I'm sure he wondered, "What's the big deal with being close to campus, anyway?"  It's a cultural thing for the most part.  Counter-cultural, that is.  Was our house the nicest we could've bought in town?  Most bang for our buck?  Not even close.  But it was close to several things we could walk to...campus, post office, pharmacy, grocery store, a hardware store, and even an auto repair shop.  Like family #2 (above), we get a lot of our exercise naturally, without having to drive to a gym or a park, etc.  All because of a tough 'decision' we made 11 years ago.  I reaped the benefits this morning—on my walk to work.

P.S.  Cleaned up the Taco Bell cup that I chose not to pick up on Monday.