There are some times when I know exactly what I want to write about and it’s just a matter of making my fingers do typing actions until it’s done. Other times, like today, I open up a word document and stare at it while I watch Youtube videos and clean crap off my keyboard. After doing that for a while today I decided instead to go for a walk. I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of weeks and I figured I could use some time out of the house. The government was also kindly enough to send me some suspicious tax monies (this 2 days before they sent me another letter saying they would not be sending me any tax monies) and I figured I might as well head down to the bank. Luckily for me there is a beautiful park between my house and my financial institution.
As silly as this may seem, going for a walk can sometimes be a process in itself: a smaller part of a larger process. A walk can be good if you have something on your mind that you need to think through or if you need a break from whatever you’re working on. A walk is also good for the creative process. As you are out and about the things that you see and encounter can offer inspiration or send your train of thought down unintended, and possibly interesting tracks. Whichever reason I wind up going for a walk (or whatever reason it winds up being by the time I get back) the process starts as I’m getting ready to leave the house. When I go for a walk I like to make sure I have the right shoes depending on the weather or how far I want to go. I pick out a long sleeved shirt because I don’t like the sun and because I need a pocket for my MP3 player. I make sure the MP3 player has some juice and that I pick some music. In this case it was the last half of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited going, and the first half of Matthew Osbourne’s self titled final album coming home. I finish by making sure I drink plenty of water and then out I go.
Anyone living in the KW area, and probably anywhere even remotely close to here, is aware that the heat has been somewhat oppressive lately. At least today there was a nice breeze which made the heat seem slightly less awful. I’ve mentioned before that there is a scenic canal (read: drainage ditch) behind my house and there is a path that leads along this charming waterway all the way down to the park. The ditch is actually quite beautiful at times, and every spring there is a wall of lilacs that goes on for blocks filling the air with their fragrance. We had a lilac tree in our front yard as kids, and I am very partial to lilacs. About a block down the path I saw that a couple of young girls had set up a stand to sell lemonade and rice crispy squares to people passing along the trail. Aside from the vague feeling of nostalgia this gave me (who even does this anymore?) I was stuck by the budding business acumen of these young ladies. Hundreds of joggers, hikers, bikers, and dog walkers use this path everyday and it’s also on the way to the local pool.
The park itself was beautiful. I didn’t spend too much time there last year because the park was under some pretty heavy renovations. The lake was dredged and the shores were re-lined with rocks and the entire back end of the park was redone. Now that the dust has settled and some of the grass has regrown the park is really staring to look like it’s old self again. I mean like it’s really old self. I saw some canoes and paddle boats on the lake as well, and there haven’t been boats there since I was a kid. I still remember the gondola that used to pole around the lake with newlyweds and other young romantics as passengers. Closer to downtown they were setting up up for Ribfest (or whatever they’re calling it these days) and they even had a small carnival putting up next to the clock tower.
Downtown was hot and busy and I went about my business at the bank as fast as I could. I’ve lived right downtown the majority of my life, and while I still live nearby (the walk is about 15 or 20 minutes) I feel like I never get down there anymore. Any time that I do I always get to thinking about how things have changed over the years as buildings and businesses come and go. I’m almost always pleased with the changes that I see. My favourite bookstore might be gone, and I still have very fond memories of a restaurant called “The Purple Turtle” that disappeared years ago but I also see all the things we’ve gained. We have a distinctive city hall (reviled when it was built), the beautiful School of Pharmacy building, The Museum, and even a branch of the CBC. I should try to get downtown more.
I headed back home through the park and took some time to sit on a bench and enjoy the day. I brought a book to read but I left it sitting on the bench beside me. I watched people go by, and I watched the water flow. It stuck me how much less debris was in the lake since they had dredged it and I spent a good deal of time contemplating the greeny-brown colour of the water. I saw a duck and some ducklings go by and spent a few minutes trying to decide if there were three or four of them. There were four. After I had soaked the park in to my satisfaction I decided to go home and write a post on bacon and selling out (which may or may not appear next week) but by the time I got home I had just enough energy to collapse on the couch and take a quick nap. The prefect end to a nice walk.
That’s really all I have to say about that. It occurs to me that this might be what Jim refers to as “fluffy bullshit” but I think I’m okay with that. We can’t all be Balzac, and it’s still got to be better than a Thigh-Master. Sometimes it’s good to think about the ordinary things you do everyday and I think my walk wound up being about exactly what it was supposed to be about: getting out of the house. Fortunately it also gave me something to write about.
D.
