snow day, feet day

I had gotten up, showered, dressed, and was nearly ready to leave for work this morning before I bothered to go into the living room and look out the window.



Oh.

Snow is a positive for me, not a negative, but I wasn't willing to test out "first snow ride" on a Thursday morning when I needed to get to work mostly dry and in one piece. Such experiments are better left for weekends; weekdays are satisfied with "tried and true". So I stuffed my pantlegs into gumboots (that's what we wear in the snow here: wellies) and walked.



Pleasant surprise: I'd forgotten the enjoyment of walking. About half of my walking route is through the residential sidestreets of the west end, under the towering old trees (not pictured above, BTW) and through an endearing jumble of old, semi-old, and occasionally new apartment buildings, with the odd old house thrown into the mix. There's always something to look at, you can take a different route every day for months without ever taking exactly the same route twice, and at an *even* slower speed than that at which I cycle (which I assure you is ever-so-meandering one), you pay attention to the tiny details, like gardens and architectural features and funny posters stapled to telephone poles.



By afternoon it had turned to rain and my walk home from the latest Pecha Kucha Night (can I say again: inspiring?!) was mostly through ice-mud (winter's equivalent to fall's tree-mud), otherwise known as slush or "bleh". But I re-trod routes that I used to walk so much last year that I knew them by heart. It was like rediscovering old friends. I realized that I've been so caught up in cycling -- its fun and efficiency both -- that I've forgotten the pleasure of pedestrianism.

Note to self: feet are good for more than pedalling. Let's mix it up more often.