Today was reminiscent of walking to school when I was young. (Yeah, I admit it. I've reached 'old'.) One of the preschool sites I serve as an early childhood special educator is about 3/4 of a mile from my house, so I decided to walk today. As I walked along the residential streets, my mind wandered back to all those many, many days that I walked to school...more than a mile away, I'm sure. I walked in all kinds of weather: freezing cold, to sunny, hot days. I always carried books in high school and 'junior high'..as we called it then. I've been trying to remember if I ever carried any kind of a book bag, but I don't think I did. I think I carried a handbag along. Sometimes I walked with friend/s part or all of the way. My mind wandered as it must have when I was a child observing traffic, people, butterflies, birds and life, along the way.
Today I carried a backpack which I attempted to lighten as much as possible, but still carried my lunch, notebook, schedule book,and water bottles, with personal items tucked inside. I wore my walking shoes, and carried a pair of sandals in the back pack, too, thinking I would change when I arrived...but I forgot to change shoes, so that was a bit of extra weight I didn't need to carry. I also wore a light jean jacket this morning, as it was about 60 sunny degrees. This afternoon, I did not need the jacket, as the temperature had climbed into the 80+. In the shade it was wonderful for walking; but a bit hot in the sun, carrying, what I consider at this point in my life, a Heavy back pack. (Obviously I do no back pack hiking!) The back pack put a strain on my neck and upper back (yeah, all you techies will probably say it wasn't ergonomically set!), but the walk was relatively short. No harm done and now I'm home, knowing that I've already walked 40 minutes today, in two 20-minute sessions. A really painless way to get my exercise! 'Back then,' it was just a necessary mode of travel. There were no carpools, as most families had one car and the breadwinner of the family used that to get back and forth to work...10-12 hour days.
You might say that times have changed, and yet they are the same.
