Happiness? It's Within Walking Distance, You Know

By: Donovan Baldwin
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:40:02
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Every place is within walking distance if you have the time.
--Mike Heydlauf

You know, I don't walk as much as I used to. I'm not quite sure when and where things changed, but there was a time when I calmly and casually walked distances which would appall me now.

Of course, when I was a lad down in Pensacola, Florida, I spent all day walking in the woods near my house or swimming in Pensacola Bay, or riding my bicycle all over the countryside...or downtown to the Florida Theater to watch my heartthrob, Hayley Mills in "The Parent Trap". God! How I lusted after that girl...or would have if I had understood the concept at the time. As it was, I just went and collected at some houses on my paper route, and went back the next day. I lost track of how many times I saw that movie.

Anyway, there I was cruising by foot and bicycle (and fins) around Pensacola and the surrounding waters. I knew people and doorways, and paths and obstacles at a level I have not known since. I have never quit walking completely, and I have a great awareness of the areas in which I find myself, but I have, with few exceptions, seldom known a place as close to cellular level as I knew that place back then.

When I lived in Germany several years ago, I had to do quite a bit of walking to get where I wanted to go. I remember those years and the places I walked with great clarity and in great depth. Years later, I went back to Germany, but this time little impression was left upon my psyche. I did little walking, but drove everywhere. When I wasn't in a building, I was in a car...except for those times the army required that I run or walk for several miles, but I wasn't paying much attention to scenery.

Recently I have had the opportunity to revisit my childhood haunts and was amazed at the detail I remembered and at how different and unfamiliar it seemed from the seat of my car.

One of the things I look forward to in my retirement is the time to walk. I want to see the world from ground level and at the speed of a brisk walk. It's so much easier to see detail and enjoy the sights that way.

Actually, life is somewhat like that. If you move a little slower and get down to ground level, you see a lot more and enjoy it more. Obviously, this does not work on an Interstate or the Autobahn.

Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters.

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