{"id":2938,"date":"2018-07-04T18:20:17","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T01:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2018-08-07T21:55:15","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T04:55:15","slug":"why-walk-its-time-away-everyday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=2938","title":{"rendered":"Why walk? \u2013 Every time, it’s time away."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What is walking good for?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Losing myself in thought and sometimes in space
\nGetting where I need to go
\nCarrying on good conversations with friends old and new
\nDoing errands and learning how many things I can carry at once
\nTaking a stand in marches with friends and strangers
\nGrieving the loss of a friend or family member
\nLetting my mind go into itself and into the walk, often with unexpected results
\nExploring new places \u2013 in small towns, wild & wide open spaces, and tightly-packed cities
\nEnjoying the familiarity of the same path over and over again
\nMulling over next steps, thinking ahead through tricky situations
\nWhatever the weather, feeling it through skin and bones and ears
\nGetting away from my desk and out of the house
\nPutting muscles, bones, and joints to use, temporarily getting rid of the occasional arthritic pain in my right hip<\/p>\n

In May this year, I decided to keep track of a month of my walks, mapping them after the fact, describing them briefly, noting what took me outside, and seeing where and how far I went.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>\"\"<\/p>\n

What more is walking good for?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Timing my arrival at doctors appointments and work dates with careful precision
\nSmelling the wind, the trees, and of course the blossoms
\nChatting with friends and strangers I meet along the way
\nTalking with nearby birds and small critters \u2013 squirrels, cats, dogs, a rabbit, and a raccoon
\nFeeling the satisfaction of my feet solidly hitting the ground
\nFinding new ways to get to familiar places
\nAllowing time for aimlessness
\nListening to all the sounds I walk through
\nGetting unstuck and centered
\nDiscovering new staircases, vistas, and untraveled short cuts
\nFollowing alleyways, water edges, railroad tracks, and back roads
\nTrying to come to terms with civic crises and figure out what I<\/em> can do
\nLetting off steam
\nSimply enjoying the parallel motion of mind and feet<\/p>\n

To make up for the fact that I didn’t have a map for every day in May \u2013 some days I either forgot to make notes or didn’t get out much \u2013 I made a record of a few good walks in June. In fact, it was hard to stop the recordkeeping, though I’m glad I did. I didn’t use a “fitness tracker.” It’s been clear, after listening to friends who use them, how easy it is get hooked on those electronic devices. It’s\u00a0an obsession I don’t want.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Looking back at these records, I notice that, in this particular month, many of the walks I think of as favorites are missing \u2013 in towns and landscapes outside Seattle, political marches and rallies, through industrial areas or along railroad tracks, around the arboretum, along the waterfront, through Interbay and over the locks, and anywhere with grandkids. It’s definitely time to get outdoors and walk, right now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What took me outside? \u00a0Where and how far did I go?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is walking good for? Losing myself in thought and sometimes in space Getting where I need to go Carrying on good conversations with friends old and new Doing errands and learning how many things I can carry at once Taking a stand in marches with friends and strangers Grieving the loss of a friend…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-time-away"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7pXN0-Lo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2938"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3178,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions\/3178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}