Urban Hike #1

Today we got a break from the rain. I hurried and got on my boots and went for a nice walk. I got a little rained on, but it was well worth it. I took some photos while I was out and about. These were taken in the neighborhoods known as Irvington and Sabin.

The Art of Walking

I don't think I have ever written about this on my blog, but I love the outdoors. I've been cooped up for the past few days recovering from surgery, and tonight I was near campus outside waiting for my dinner date, enjoying the cold crisp air after class. Just being outside for that short bit lifted my spirits.
I like to think about where I'm going to explore next? When can I go? How much time can I take? I work and go to school, so I am very limited in my actual getting-away, but I have many days where I "urban-hike." Last week, for example, I walked from Albina and Interstate (the yellow line max stop) and to home. I stopped there after class intentionally so I could get the chance to see a different stretch of a neighborhood I so often just pass through. When I got home I want to see how far it was from point A to B so I Googled it. Google said it was about 2.6 miles. Which isn't that far. But considering the extra walking I did around campus and at work, it adds up. (And it is certainly more the average American.)
On my urban outing, I stopped in at The Rebuilding Center just for fun, didn't see anything I couldn't live without and decided to grab some food at Mississippi Pizza before heading the rest of the way home. All in all I probably walked more than 4 miles this particular day. I walk a lot, often because I don't own a car, but often I prefer the pace of walking. Cars often seem claustrophobic, and if I'm on the bus during rush hour, walking is often the better choice for peace and quiet.
There is so much to see in the Northwest that gets absorbed much better when I take the time to hike around. The urban trails I've made and committed to memory make life that much more satisfying. It isn't about the gear that gets packed or the weight I eliminated off my shoulders, it is about the journey. A walk seems to put things into perspective. It isn't technical or stressful. Most days it is the most satisfying thing I do.
I read other people's blogs that are backpackers and ultralighter's, and I am a bit of a gear-nut myself I admit. I like to go to REI and visit all the websites that obsess about backpacking gear. I am often reminded that this is just how adults get to be kids again. The big difference between the times I spent outdoors as a kid and the hiking trips I do nowadays has to do with planning and price-tags. I had gear when I was a kid. I had so much gear and camouflage one of the neighbors in my old neighborhood, a Vietnam-vet, said "We didn't even have that much stuff when we were fighting in the jungle." So, now that I'm an adult, and the prospect of playing in the woods is somewhere in the near future, I get to be that kid again. Although I'd love to have some of my camouflage gear back. -R

Letting go

Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides. At one place a beautiful young woman was standing unable to walk accross because of a puddle of water. The elder of the two monks went up to a her lifted her in his alms and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his way to the monastery.
In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, "Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman ?"
The elder monk answered "yes, brother".
Then the younger monk asks again, " but then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside ?"
The elder monk smiled at him and told him " I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her "

-From Zen Flesh Zen Bones

New Years' are about letting go of what happened last year. I like to burn some of the things that I need to rid myself of. It is a good ritual. It helps the mind let go of a physical thing. Up up and away, I offer my past to the fire. It gives me smoke and new hope.