January 06th, 2020

I doubt if it's still part of current vernacular, but in the olden days, when I was young and dinosaurs still walked the earth, if one person was being annoying, another person might tell them to "take a hike".

Because I was a clumsy kid and was forever crashing into things and hurting myself, rather than cry about whatever minor injury I had,  I  "walked it off".  When the boys were young and in sports I heard their coaches tell them the same thing in the same circumstances, "walk it off kid".  

I remember a cave tour that we were on where every single time the group was  moved from "room" to "room" within the cave the guide would preface the beginning of a change with "...and we are walking."  If you want  a word with your very busy boss, they might tell you to "walk with me". 

I recall some popular British lady who taught people  how to properly train their dogs.  She referred to walking your dog as "walkies" said in a high pitched, two toned, almost baby-talk way.  Made me giggle every time I heard it.

Something very simple is considered to be a "walk in the park".  Paul Hogan as Crocodile Dundee introduced the rest of the world to the concept of going "walkabout" and Dustin Hoffman famously ad-libbed, "I'm walking here!" in the movie Midnight Cowboy.

So the idea of walking is pretty firmly ensconced in our lives.  But there was a time when there was a strong belief that Humans were becoming so lazy that they would stop walking entirely.  At the beginning of the industrial evolution  things were changing very fast and life was becoming physically easier and it was just too must for a lot of people to wrap their brains around.  And then when  the automobile was not only introduced to the world but embraced, especially by the American culture, older generations feared that moving forward people would simply stop walking and eventually forget how.  Some science Fiction authors grabbed that idea and had people evolving into limbless creatures that were solely cerebral in nature, developing telekinesis and perhaps even teleportation instead. 

And of course that has not happened.

People still walk.  Some as a means of exercise, others as their primary mode of transportation, especially in big cities.

I've always been a walker.   I think better when I'm moving and I love being outside.  Tim is becoming more of a walker these days too.  Nearly every day, around noon, instead of taking a lunch break, we take a walk break.  If I'm not home, he walks it by himself (and probably appreciates a little peace and quiet while doing so).  


So on New Years Day,  when I said,  "It's too pretty of a day too stay inside. Let's take a walk" Tim immediately put on his shoes and off we went.

We had no particular destination, but rather than head to the beach, as we usually do, for absolutely no reason, we found ourselves pointed toward the intercoastal waterway instead. 

Venice island is an island instead of a peninsula only by virtue of this body of water.    On one side of Venice Island we are bordered by  the gulf of Mexico but to our east is a portion of the intercoastal waterway.   That's it.  One side and the other.  There are three bridges that arch from Venice island to the rest of the city, a North Bridge, also known as the KMI Bridge.  The Center Bridge also called the Venice Avenue Bridge and the south bridge A.K.A. the Circus Bridge.   The Intercoastal is flanked on both sides by a paved trail called the Venetian Waterway Trail.  That became the path for the beginning of our adventure.

Because we live on the north end of the island, the KMI Bridge is the closest one. Once we got to the north bridge, we crossed and began walking along the off-island side.  

It was an absolutely gorgeous weather day. Not too hot or too cold with a nice breeze and perfect, absolutely perfect temperatures.  So naturally we weren't the only people out there.  Lots of bicyclers and other walkers also thought it was a gorgeous day to be out in. And the boaters, oh my, they were out in force!  Boats of every size, shape and kind.  From kayaks to speed boats to fishing boats to sail boats..... they were legion.

We waved to the people in the boats as we walked along, pointed out interesting things to each other and talking about whatever crossed our minds.   We exchanged wishes of Happy New Year with almost everyone we passed. and  eventually  reached the south bridge. 

Because neither of us thought to bring our phones, we had no idea what time it was.  And since we had no idea how long we would be walking we didn't think to bring water either so the decision was made to cross back over to the island and stopped at one of the many parks along the way to make good use of the water fountain before continuing our little journey.

The entire walk was such a pleasure that we were shocked when we got home to find out how much time had passed.  We pretty much killed the entire afternoon! Tim later told me that he  mapped it out and we had walked about 7 and a half miles.  Awesome!

Suffice it to say that I do not think the human race is in danger of forgetting how to walk.  The naysayers of the past were so very wrong. At least about this.

Here are some of the things that we saw on our New Year's Day Walk

How did you spend your New Years Day?