The weather outside shapes my weekend. With the New Year I took up the 2-mile Challenge as my resolution. Evidently 40% of urban car trips are within two miles of a person's house. Ninety percent of those 2-miler trips are done by car. So the Challenge is to walk, bike, skateboard, mass-transit, or otherwise make your two-mile trek without your car keys.
Most of the time I'm good to go. I'll lace up my shoes to walk to the grocery store, or the mail stop. The library is within two miles. N's school is, too. The entirety of down-town Lincoln. It's not the distance but the weather that makes things more difficult. Particularly this time of year.
For example I'll be standing at the stove and realize I don't have fresh rosemary for this soup, or something. So the first thought is, "dang...rosemary" but before I venture off to the grocery store, I'll size things up. How cold is it outside? How badly do I need fresh rosemary?
I find this 2-mile challenge is less about scratching out driving, or rosemary for that matter. It's more about making room for other things. Taking the occasion to walk more often. Spending less time couped up inside. Bundling up in mittens or buckling up my rain boots and being part of the weather outside rather than shrinking from it.
Walking pushes past that first wince I'll feel at the weather. That first moment when I'll wince at the cold air. The way I'll clutch my
coat closed in the rain or tuck my nose to my chest and
shuffle in small, fast steps along the sidewalk.
Walking opens up that second hit of the weather outside. The one that comes on more gradually as I'll relax and my body warms up a
little. The cold doesn't feel so cold. The rain doesn't feel so harsh. When was the last time you splashed around in puddles? Or noticed the way the snow bounces up from around your boots?
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