“But the beauty is in the walking -- we are betrayed by destinations.”
― Gwyn Thomas
We take longer-than-usual walks in the weekends, mainly because Tomas insists on it. Stay inside for too long when it's a Saturday and he'll start whining and kissing the husband, begging to be let out. We start downstairs, around the community and past the fountains before we head out the gate and make our way to the nearest park. The park is undergoing a major renovation right now, with more pathways, lookout areas and maybe even an overlooking cafe being put in, but most of the walking areas are still cleared for walking.
The walk to the park is also pretty scenic. The sidewalks here are wide and trees are everywhere. In spring, long walks are pretty much an easy exercise in mindfulness and being in the present, unless Tomas sees another dog and starts to go crazy like he always does.
During these walks I'm always reminded of how beautiful it is here and how fortunate we are to have ample spaces for walking. We walk here more often than we walk back home just because there's no place to safely walk where I'm from. Trees are being cut down to make way for more roads and cars that go through them. Our parks are tree-less spaces of benches on concrete and dilapidated monkey bars that only become useful in the mornings and late afternoons. I mourn the disregard for trees and the world of good that they bring to anywhere they are planted, especially when I can see that greening a place with trees can be done-- SHOULD be done.
Here, places are made for walking and people take advantage of it. And I think they know how lucky they are.
