Why I Walk

When I was a kid, I walked to school. Almost everyday I’d walk two miles. I’d walk everyday no matter the weather, but I loved it. 

I love walking on those windy days when the grass sways, when the trees rustle, when I can see the clouds moving across the sky, their shadows running to catch up. On those days, walking to school, I’d never rush because I knew the time I spent walking would be the best part of my day.

In the shows I watch and the stories I hear, parents say things like, “When I was a kid, I walked miles uphill everyday,” with the expectation that the child should do the same because when they were their age they did. That seems silly to me.

I love walking on those rainy days. When I walked to school, on those rainy days, I could pretend I was a kid again and jump in the puddles. On those days I’d feel the rain belting my jacket, and hear the pretty pitter patter of it falling everywhere. On those days the world was a different shade, a shade where different things lived. On those days everything felt more alive, including me.

In high school I’d walk two miles almost everyday. I could have gotten out of it if I really wanted to, but I never tried because to me, for a long time, those walks were the only thing that made life worth living.

I love walking in the snow. Walking to school I’d love to see tufts of snow dance in the air, before layering everything, covering it all equally. I loved that other snow, the needles of snow, turned into waves by the wind. I didn’t like the way they pricked my face, but seeing them, seeing the way my footsteps disappeared behind me, made the pain worth it.

Maybe I like walking so much because when I was little, I walked to school with my mom and my sisters. Sometimes on those walks while we’d talk and laugh, I’d get to push my baby sister in the stroller. I loved it, but once my older sister reached middle school, we stopped. I wish we’d never stopped.

I love walking on those hot, sunny days. I love the way the world, from a distance, appears to melt, the way the animals thrive, the blue of the sky and the chalked sidewalks. I like other days more, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate those hot, sunny days.

When I was a kid, for a time, I was driven to school. It was during the worst years of my life. The first year I was driven, was the year I was bullied and isolated. The next year was the one I hung out with kids that only used me. The next year, the last year, there was so much death.

I love to walk as the sun starts to set. I love the way the sky turns colors and how there’s a million other people out. I love that, at those times, when I walk, everyone is looking at something other than the bad.