Sunshine

My one word for this morning’s walk to work is “sunshine.” I know I shouldn’t soak it up like I do sometimes. I didn’t even use sunscreen on my (bald) head today. It was the perfect combination, though, of room temperature and the warmth of the rays. If I’d been driving, I might’ve had one arm hanging out the window getting those rays. Walking gives me a chance to get ‘em all over.

As you may have noticed, this entry is being logged on a Saturday. It’s hard working Saturdays, especially on beautiful days like today. Occasionally, students will throw a Frisbee around on the front lawn of the library, which is just plain cruel. Don’t they realize that some of us are stuck inside & can only look out at others enjoying themselves. That’s the end of my pity party. I actually hope that most people are not working today and that they’re outside having tons of fun. Lord willing, I’ll be doing the same thing soon.

Honks from Passersby (to date): 5. Fellow Walker Sightings: 13. Saw one of my closest neighbors (a student) walking to campus. I knew he did, I just hadn’t seen him until yesterday. Good for him.

P.S. I vaguely remember picking up some trash this morning, but can’t remember what. Yesterday, I found a pair of socks on the lawn of the athletics bldg. I suppose I could’ve washed ‘em and donated ‘em to Goodwill, but didn’t.

Driven to Distraction

Weather Report: Fallish. The cool air was refreshing. I forced myself not to wear a jacket, even though I easily could have.
I tried to pray during this morning’s commute. I was staying on track early, using my utility pole method (see March 17 entry), but then got stopped by a passerby. It was a good friend, and I enjoyed the brief visit. If I’d been driving, the visit would’ve never happened. But I couldn’t get my mind back to a prayerful mode afterwards. I can be so easily distracted, it’s not even funny…especially when I’m trying to pray. My prayer focus (while it lasted) was for patience—patience for my wife, particularly, who’ll be home with all the kids today…teaching them, training them, playing with them, running errands with them, and so forth. She needs God’s patience every day. And so do I. This friend I mentioned earlier, who had no idea I was trying to pray, offered me a ride. He probably knew I’d refuse, but was being nice anyway. I told him I was enjoying the cool weather, which wasn’t just a flimsy excuse. Ride Offers (to date): 6

P.S. I cleaned up a piece of duct tape from in front of a downtown business this morning. It’s the kind of thing that would’ve been swept up in a couple of days, but thought I’d beat them to it.

Bees

One of the landmarks I can’t help but notice each day on my walk to work is a beehive. A neighbor just around the corner keeps bees. He has about three hives, colonies, or whatever they’re called. All I can see is the boxes, like the one in the photo. Of course, the bees seem to hide away all winter, but when it’s even mildly warm they start coming and going. I always like to take a quick peek to see if they’re active. These are the same bees that hang out in our yard when the flowers are out, so in a way they seem almost like friends. The reason the bees are especially on my mind is because for the first time in almost a year my neighbor’s privacy gate was closed…so I couldn’t see the bees. There was a small consolation, though. A neighbor to this neighbor officially got into the bee business himself about a week ago. His box/hive is set farther back from the sidewalk, so it’s harder to actually see the bees, but at least there’s no 6 foot fence to keep me from looking. Ride Offers (to date): 5

P.S. Found a McCafe cup (large?) in a parking lot across the street from campus. If there’s ever trash I walk past it’s the stuff that accumulates in this parking lot. I tend to focus my litter efforts on campus, but that cup was just too much to pass by. And thankfully there was a public trash can only a few feet away.

See You At Lunch?

On this morning’s commute I took time to not to pray, so much, but to meditate. To meditate on four words--four little words I say just about every day before I leave the house. In fact, I say it several times (one time per family member). “See you at lunch.”

Surely, in the history of mankind, about a million fathers have said those four little words before leaving home, never to return for lunch, for dinner, or ever. I bet at least one of the West Virginia miners who died earlier this week said those four words on their way out the door…or something similar, to a wife, to a son or daughter… “See you later.” “I’ll be home before dark.” “I’ll be home in time for supper.” I spent my walk time today wondering whether I should say things like that, as harmless as they seem to be. And, if not, what kind of farewell would be more true, more real, more godly? I’m reminded of A.J. Jacobs’ “Year of Living Biblically,” during which he tacked “God willing” onto the end of his every use of the future tense. Why? Because to him it just seemed biblical. “For what is your life? You are a vapor.”

P.S. I picked up a two foot length of clear ribbon from the hill behind the library. And I’ll pick up more trash tomorrow…God willing.

Leaves?

On the walk this morning I noticed a radical change in the trees. On Friday—no fluff. Today—fluff. I call if “fluff” because I don’t know what the technical name is for that pre-leaf stage that trees go through. All I know is that the fluff can mean only one thing: shade. I live for the shade on my walk to and from work, particular at lunchtime when the sun’s directly overhead. Up until now, there hasn’t been many breaks from the sun on my commute. Now, at least, there’s hope.

P.S. This morning I found half a wrapper from a snack-sized package of Cheez-its…on the sidewalk alongside Main. I don’t typically do the litter thing in view of so many passersby, but I’m steadily getting more comfortable with it.

National Walk to Work Day?

I was noticing a lot less traffic on the roads this morning, when it dawned on me that it wasn’t because everyone was walking…it was Good Friday. Perhaps it was a combo of the two. It’s interesting to me that a Walking-To-Work-Day observance would fall on a day when a number of people aren’t even working. Oh, well. There’s a bit more P.S. than normal, because litter became a focal point on this morning’s commute.

P.S. Picked up the most interestingly-shaped bit of trash I’ve ever picked up before. It was a wedge-shaped, plastic holder for one of those ready-made sandwiches. In this case, it was Ham & Cheese. I found it just around the corner from the house. I don’t usually like doing trash removal so early in my commute, because I have to tote it around. It was so in your face, though…fairly big and right in the middle of the road. I couldn’t help myself. As usual, I walked past much more trash than I picked up. It doesn’t usually bother me too much. I find myself caring about it more and more, though. Usually, I limit myself to one litter removal per morning…for a particular reason (more about that later). Walking through the downtown gazebo area, though, I spotted not one but two Subway bags full of trash. Right there on the lawn, making our downtown look a bit slummish. I actually tried walking past them—after all, I was already carrying my one-piece-of-litter-per-day. I took one step past them & just had to stop. I turned around, bent over, and grabbed ‘em.

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.