I’d Walk a Mile…

Last week, off the cuff, someone asked a couple of us what we’d walk a mile for.

I find it a funny question.  I’d walk a mile for a lot of things – a mile isn’t really that far, people.  I walked three of them each way to work for several years – when work wasn’t exactly a treat worth looking forward to.

I’m always amazed how people will say, what?  You walked all the way there??  Like it’s to the next county or something – when instead it was two or three miles and took about half an hour to forty-five minutes.  Forty-five minutes is nothin’.

On the other hand, then you have people who say, Oh, that’s just down the street, just a few minutes up the road.  And yeah, it is just down the street, and just a few minutes up the road – if you go by car.  But it’s eight miles and over two hours walk under your own power.

But if it’s a mile, sure I’d walk it.  I’d walk a mile for a pizza, a diet Coke, a sweet treat.  I’d walk a mile for a yard sale, a visit to the library, a cup of tea with a friend.  I’d walk it for errands, too: the hardware store, groceries, post office, you name it.

I’d walk a mile because that’s when I get to see what the neighbors are doing to their sidewalk garden, pop into the new shop that’s opened up a few streets down, or run into someone I haven’t seen in a while.  I’d walk it because it’s often the first time all day I really feel the sun on my face, or the bite of the wind, or that the crocuses are starting to appear, or the leaves on that maple are turning.

Ultimately, I’d walk a mile because it’s one mile there and one mile back and that’s what keeps this arse of mine in shape.