The Danes have a saying: ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather– only bad preparation.’ I have become a weather wimp after living in Los Angeles for 9 years and in coastal NC for 4. I have always enjoyed a good walk, but my resolution this year is to take a decent walk every day, no matter the weather conditions. As a hermit-y writer, it’s sometimes hard to get my butt outside, but this year I am doing so every day, inspired by the Danes. As Thoreau writes in On Walking, “My desire for knowledge is intermittent; my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant.” I like to think of these walks as mini-vacations. There is always something new to discover. Here are two snapshots from yesterday’s brisk stroll around my neighborhood (in 26 degrees, by the way!) I just got a kick out of the black Santa and the Buddhist prayer flags living side-by-side. It is things like this, not the waving of American flags and the thumping of our chests, which make me patriotic.
My friend from Norways is always using that saying. >_> Blah. I’m from LA too, and now that I’ve moved to a place with snow….I’ve discovered I’m very much an indoor sort of animal.