A Revolution: Believe in Blue Skies!
I did something a little crazy for a suburban dweller recently.
I walked to the grocery store.
Really, it's less than a mile from my front door - as is a pharmacy, a dry cleaner, a cozy coffee shop, a hardware store, and a handful of decent restaurants. Besides, it was a stunningly beautiful blue-sky day. So what's the big deal?
Did I mention I live in the suburbs? We like our cars out here. We like them a lot. We drive them everywhere. We take them to visit our friends who live a half-mile away. We drive them to our mailboxes one block away. We never walk to get where we need to go.
But on this outrageous day, I was home from work. I needed only a few things at the store. I had the time. I wanted the exercise. So, I grabbed my cloth bags and headed out the door, feeling a bit of excitement over looking like a person who cares enough about the planet to leave the car on the driveway once in a while.
The excitement lasted three blocks. That's when I stepped into the realization that people in cars in my neighborhood really don't like people on foot.
I was honked at, sneered at, and zipped around like I was some bulky piece of furniture that had fallen off a truck and into the middle of the road. But I was not in the middle of the road. I was just walking. Where there was no sidewalk, I stayed as far to the right of the shoulder as possible, even walking in a ditch part of the way after I recognized my vulnerability. Walking in the suburbs, I discovered, is dangerous.
And weird.
You can't imagine how people treat you when you stand waiting for a light to change at a major intersection in my 'hood. Note to drivers: Not everyone on foot at an intersection is begging. Some of us are just walking. In our high dollar gel-souled shoes and organic cotton sweaters. With our grocery lists and our debit cards. Why do you have to be so mean anyway?
Here's what really bothered me, though...
There was not one other person walking on that fabulous, clear, blue-sky day. Not one suburban mom pushing a stroller, not one suburban dad walking a dog to the corner store for a newspaper, not even a school kid walking to a bus stop. They were all in cars.
Heading home, I began to feel a bit self-righteous over the whole thing. I wanted to shake my fist, point to my cloth bag, and shout: "Hey! I'm saving the planet here!"
I began to fantasize about seeing other walkers with bags of groceries, or gaggles of children with backpacks, or laughing friends heading for the coffee shop. We would exchange a secret hand signal that meant, "Yes, we're the world's superheroes today." Maybe we'd have t-shirts - sky blue ones - so everyone could identify us as people who had made an environmentally friendly choice that day. Maybe the drivers would know the secret hand signal too, because when they could, they would be leaving the cars behind too. Maybe they'd smile at us walkers.
Eventually in this dream, we'd all look forward to the leisurely kinds of days that allow walking errands instead of polluting errands. We'd breathe the air that is still fresh and good for our brains. We'd see our neighbors, know our streets like never before, feel part of a community bigger than ourselves.
We'd start a Walking Revolution! Not a militant band of hard line, fussy environmental police, but friends and neighbors who believe that choosing to walk over choosing to drive - even once a month - is a good choice once a month.
Our cars are not good for the world. Our bodies need to be outdoors. Our souls need to stop and pay attention to the sights and sounds around us...not with the windows rolled up as we zoom by at 45-miles-per-hour...but face to face, in person, feet on the ground.
I say we launch this Walking Revolution! Come on, America! Put on a bright blue shirt. Tie up your comfortable walking shoes. Grab the cloth bag, the stroller, the coffee mug, a friend. Go where you need to go. On foot. It's not that far...even in the suburbs.
Don't forget to look up while you're out there. Take it all in...say it out loud: I believe in blue skies!
See you on the sidewalk.
