Prompt: the road

A friend just came back from a trip and I can feel the waves of euphoria coming off her. They're palpable, they're rocking the air around us.

Travel changes you. My friend, I can see is starting to separate from us. She's looking to another future, away from here. "Here" is just a reminder that you are not "there", wherever "there" is.

Even if you're not aware of it, while you are away from here, from home, being away will make you see things differently. In fact, I was just thinking about this very thing as I walked from home to our meeting place.

What I was thinking on my walk were a few related things that may or may not become a philosophical rant, so bear with me. In a sense, I thought, walking could be a metaphor for living. Because, while walking, the pedestrian is uncovered, open to the environment to the extent that they are not encased in a metal and glass and plastic moving object. The typical walking stride is relatively slow, a human pace, when compared to wheeled or winged forms of comportment. At this speed, it is possible to observe one's surroundings using the senses, making the experience a sensual one, and, it is preferred, a pleasurable one.

Being unencased, and thus, unencumbered, a walker is free to meet other walkers, exchange pleasantries, go about their daily lives unhurried because to arrive at point B from point A by perambulation one must be able to do so at just the pace that they are able. The scale of daily routines would allow for this limitation and would be built accordingly to accommodate. Grocery stores, hardware supplies, bakeries, cafes, etc., would all be a short stroll from one's home and place of employment. This is how a neighborhood would look, and it would be close to other similar neighborhoods, all connected and and easily traversed on foot.

Does this sound familiar? It should. It's a description of what was, in the not so distant past, commonly referred to as a town, or a city.

I believe this is what many people, in their hearts, still want. They want to feel part of something bigger than themselves. They want to feel safe. They want to feel like they belong. They want to enjoy and experience joy in their lives.

I know this is what my friend wants and her trip revealed that all this may be possible for her, just not "here", in this town we have both called home for over a decade now. My friend will scoff when I mention my own recent trip abroad. Yes, I am aware that it is a privilege to go to another country. I feel so very thankful that in my lifetime I have been able to do this. Not long ago, I would not have believed I would get to see how other people lived.

It's no secret that people live differently than we do here. It's just not as well advertised, as, say, the latest version of a popular mobile device. In the places I went, walking was like breathing. No one there questioned the air. Even the most perfunctory of strolls was revelatory. Within a two block radius of where we stayed, I was presented with groceries, bakeries, countless cafes with their tables clustered under the shade of the corner plane trees, and restaurants, restaurants, restaurants. There were alleyways, hidden stairs, pocket gardens, carved out doorways. But this was just an ordinary port town. In fact, many times we were asked why we chose to visit there as it is not a tourist destination but rather a typical working city for this country.

I came home asking myself what happened to us here in the "New World"? What is it that keeps us from living lives open to the possibilities that just a simple walk can offer?

I've gotten a few different explanations, one a Marxist critique citing capitalism and post industrialism as the main culprits. And I can see how these mindsets play a huge part in what we are living with now. Another well meaning friend offered the bootstrap theory to illustrate why even now we can't see past making sure we get ours at the expense of everyone else. A Buddhist might say that if one were to be fully alive one must make oneself more vulnerable, have an open heart. But we here are not about to make ourselves vulnerable. That would just be plain unAmerican.

All of this makes sense. But at what expense? Is our only consolation the sidewalks that are included in our subdivisions?

I'm going to conclude by reiterating that I still believe most people want life to be better, kinder, more beautiful. Just for fun, observe what happens when artists or artisans re-imagine this kind of human scale space, and rebuild an area previously neglected or abandoned, a place where one can walk to whatever one desires. Portland and Oakland are good examples. These cities flew under the radar, ignored or even maligned for years. Slowly, over a couple of decades, groups of artists quietly carved out new possibilities, resuscitating infrastructures, making these places not just inhabitable, but livable. The unfortunate thing is once these re-imagined cities were "discovered", people flocked there hoping to be part of this better life, and suddenly they are affordable only to the wealthy.

So, what's the solution, you ask? My friend is talking about a trailer park close to amenities. But what about the rest of us? Move to Kingston, NY or Albuquerque, NM or some far flung corner and start rebuilding? I'm getting too old for that, but maybe you can. And if you do, maybe some day when you are putting on the finishing touches, I'll relocate there and drive the prices up.

I apologize for the rant. There's so much more to say but that would require a book.