I’m a walker. I’d be a walker by choice even if I owned a car and could drive. I’m not a power walker. I don’t walk for health reasons though I certainly do harvest them. I walk because I enjoy the movement, the sense of being in control and most of all because walking allows me to be out and about in a three dimensional world.

I stroll, I meander, I pause to study the styles of architecture and the landscaping. I greet each person I encounter and sometimes we pause for a chat especially if they happen to be walking a dog whose acquaintance I feel compelled to make. On streets where there are stores I pause to admire the window displays.

Every walk I do is like a mini vacation. I’m a tourist in my own town. Summer and Winter, spring and fall you will find me off on one of my excursions. Even if I walk a familiar route I always have a unique experience.

People who dash about in cars from point to point miss so very much. They miss seeing the first robin of spring or the first tulip to bloom. They miss the scent of the wind and the first star at twilight.

They miss all the subtle signs of the turning seasons. They miss friendly smiles and dogs with waving tales. They miss the sound of a bubbling brook or the glimpse of a cat moving like a silent shadow. They miss the shape of the clouds and a hundred other lovely details there are to savor, and that is why I love to walk.