Do you remember learning to walk? Most of us don’t. Yet, as infants learning to walk took our complete attention. As we got better at it (letting go of couches and adult hands to walk and run on our own), it became one of our best joys. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that walking (especially in […]
In the last blog I wrote about not knowing the highways of the gods when we see them. So how do I intend to give you (and me) eyes to see and bodies to feel the joy of walking? Well, I can’t do it alone. Henry David Thoreau (Walden Pond) said joyful, passionate walking is […]
Before talking about enjoying walking, perhaps it would be good to explore the alternative: Why does one not like it? What makes it unfun? John Burroughs was a 19th century naturalist who hung out with the likes of Walt Whitman (“Leaves of Grass”) and John Muir (think Yosemite Park). Burroughs said that people don’t enjoy […]
Did you know that the idea of walking for its own sake (not just a means of getting from one place to another) is relatively new to human history? In fact, the English verb “to hike” (meaning to walk for pleasure in open country) dates back a mere 200 years. And the noun “hiking” appears […]
“One of the pleasantest things in the world is going on a journey.” The words belong to William Hazlitt, a British naturalist, who in 1835 is thought to have written the first essay on walking. I found him because I’ve been researching my favorite retirement activity for some time now and have decided to share […]