walking home

Today I left work early. The week had been full of work and I felt like I had done my share. Outside the sun shone more brightly and with more strength than it should in the middle of March. Before it set, before the temperature would fall as night commenced, I went on a little walk, away from work and into the weekend if you will.

Normally I ride my bike. Only when the rain is pouring from the clouds with more vigor than water streams from my shower head do I take the bus. In the fifteen months that I've been here, I have walked only twice, once when I was too drunk to venture into traffic and too afraid of falling asleep sitting down and the other time when snow brought London to a complete halt. The walk takes fifty minutes when I storm ahead and that's the main reason I don't do it more often.

There are big advantages to walking, if you go at a gentle pace. You can take in your surroundings much more than when you weave through dense traffic on your bike, paying close attention to what's happening on the road. When you walk, you notice things: a new, enticing restaurant, a flyer for a show that's advertised nowhere else, flowers of the most curious pink growing on a window sill, and a shop running a going-out-of-business sale with unbelievable bargains.

When I walk, I'm not flying by on my way home, pressed by the desire to arrive. The journey becomes a destination in itself. I become free to stop at a whim, unencumbered by a bike I'd have to lock and a helmet I'd have to carry. I can observe people, look into shop windows, and follow traffic with more than my survival on my mind. I can step into the Oxfam to see if they have any new books or into Caffè Nero for a macchiato. Don't try having coffee on your bike.

On the bike, I'm on the main road. I'm geared for speed and I take the fast lane. On foot, I can wander off into side streets and enter neighborhoods that are charming precisely because they see so little traffic. I can saunter down narrow streets with Japanese cherries in full bloom. Daffodils are painting lawns yellow, and birds flutter about. Did you know wild parakeets live in Hyde Park? I discovered them the other day when looking for an explanation for the ear-splitting noise coming from the oak trees.

I wish I lived close enough to Imperial that my commute could happen on foot every day. Alas, I don't. I ride my bike. But today, I took the liberty of strolling into Kensington and down the high street. I had been looking forward to it but I had no idea how much fun I was going to have. You can look forward to this story but will have to wait a little. Today, I'm taking it leisurely.