walking john

i have gotten pretty serious about walking. i've always liked it in some way but since we moved closer to town the benefits have increased in so many ways.
being closer to town means i can walk *and* do other stuff. like, stop by the drug store, pick up a redbox, eat at the diner, eat at moe's, walk with a friend, fill up the growler(not since chris left), walk with chris to the pub(again- not for awhile), walk to the spa(more often since chris left- ha!), return books at the library, post a package, and much much more.
but my favorite multi tasking walking activity is walking john to sleep. i needed something to wean him to. when i weaned the older kids i just slid something they enjoyed into breastfeeding's place. max fell asleep to thomas the tank engine stories. george fell asleep to foot massages and latin chants(i only knew three or four at the time- so alot of repetition). mary jane just wanted her pacifier. and frankie was all about any book. i could even read aloud the novel i was currently working on- she wasn't too picky.
but now, since i have older kids i can leave at home for almost an hour- with everyone in semi-stasis. we have a few routes that i've cultivated. i can't just walk anywhere on a "nap walk". i have to avoid things like motorcycles, playgrounds, busy roads, the garbage man, motorcycles, low flying c130s from the Air Force base, ambulances, fire engines, cats, trains, and did I mention motorcycles?
most of that stuff is unavoidable- but keeping to the less busy streets helps. and if the stars align and none of the aforementioned it takes him about a mile to fall asleep, sometimes less.
before i started following katy bowman's blog, katysays.com, walking was just a way to get out of the house and a way to get john to sleep. it was a peaceful time.
for awhile after i started reading up on her blog walking was complicated. i couldn't zone out because i had to pay attention to my gait. but now it's starting to become second nature. i walk slower now- but i get so much more out of it! i'm not cheating.
and since i can start zoning out again- and start paying attention to little things during my walk- it's been nice.
the summer smell isn't around so much anymore. i'm not sure what composes the smell- composting grass, hot asphalt, hot creosote from the tracks.
but the smell combined with the cicadas buzzing makes me think of summers growing up spent at the pool across the tracks. eating a melting rainbow sherbet push pop. walking home from swim practice with a wet towel on my head to keep me cool and shield the sun.
but last night when i walked my senses were picking up more autumn things, again, waking up memories from the past.
the sharp pop and snap of a drum line from the local high school marching band practicing reminds me of sitting high in the magnolias after school- hearing the sounds of the band across the tracks. the leaves are more dehydrated and so are louder when the wind blows, crackling against each other. and i have come perilously close a few times to being bombed by ripe pecan trees.
i really hope when we move- the new place is a place where walking continues to be a siren song.
samantha says she wants to live near or far- not in between. she explained that living near means we can walk to neat places an see neat things. and living far means we'd have land and she could shoot her bow in the woods. but living in between- a more suburban life- feels more like we are stranded. nothing is convenient. Cannot access land- and cannot access convenient shopping and town life.
i am in agreement with her. nothing in between. either it's the country, or it's the town- but you can keep your suburbs.