Guess what happened while I was walking down Peel street today?  A lady gave me a free sample of tampons.  I got 8 free tampons on the street!  Perhaps a bit weird... but still!  If I had been driving I would have missed out on that deal.  


I also wanted to mention; perhaps it's just me, but doesn't the act of driving make destinations feel like errands?  "I have to go here.  Park.  Next I'm going there.  Park."   Today I discovered a new market.  It sells flowers and fruit and because I was walking, I got to mosey inside at random, check things out, and mosey out again.  It felt like an adventure, not like a chore.


Oh!  And my feet!  Okay so I have a confession to make.  I sort of forgot about the pedicure thing.  I was in bed, all about to fall asleep, when I thought "Oh yah, my ugly feet!"  


So then I weighed the pros and cons about getting out of bed to fix them.  I almost didn't, but because I had told you guys that I'd give it a try, guilt dragged me up.  I grabbed a bottle of moisturizer and completely slathered my feet with it.  Then I slip and slided around my room until I found a pair of socks.  


The lazy man's pedicure.


But let me tell you, it was quite the chore to wear socks during a hot summer night!  There was some effort involved!


I don't think it worked.  My feet are still pretty leathery.  I think I need to do the foot scrapy thing, but that kind of weirds me out.  


     

So, I'm still recovering from the tree planting.  I'm doing lots of sleeping and I'm trying to be gentle on my revved up metabolism (aka, replace bucket loads of cake with bucket loads of carrots).  The bug bites are healing, my sleeping bag has dried out, and I've almost washed that funky smell out of my rain jacket.

The only things that are a bit slow to recover are my feet.  They look disgusting.  I thought about taking a photo to show you, but then I got worried that you might puke.  I decided to draw a picture instead (in paint.  It was fun). 

Now, before you get all shocked and decide never to walk again so you can avoid a similar fate, remember that these feet were earned after planting 9 hours a day in rubber boots.

They are a bit delicate right now.

Which gave me the perfect excuse to rush out and buy new, good for the feet, shoes.   They have all of the "padding" and "support structures" I need to go back to my ever walking ways.   They cost me a whopping $60  (that's 600 trees!).  But they're really comfortable...

Anyways, I can't afford a pedicure, but I'm thinking that I'll try to do one myself.  After all, my feet are very important!  They get me from A to B!   They support my whole body!  They want to look sexy again in a pair of sandals!

So I typed "pedicure" into Google and found this website: http://beauty.about.com/od/perfectnails/ss/pedicure101.htm

It looks pretty informative.  I'll try and do it tonight and then let you know how it goes. 

Although a pedicure does seem like a lot of work... maybe I'll just moisturize the heck out of my feet and sleep in a pair of socks.  That's kind of the same right?

 

So, my excuse for not writing this time is that I've been in the bush.  Contrary to my expectations, there is no internet in the bush.  Nor are there flush toilets or washing machines. 


I've been tree planting.  It was my rookie year and I found it to be quite the adventure!  But, phew, it was LOTS of work.  LOTS of walking.  Almost too much walking, if I'm being truthful.  Right now I'm doing a bit of the hobble, especially if I get up from sitting for a long time.  I don't really blame the walking, so much as I blame the walking in rubber, steel toed boots across swamps, over slash, and along muddy roads.  Walking is never at fault.  Walking is awesome.  


I will also say that my ass has never looked this good before.  Just saying.  


One of my favorite things about planting was that I could eat bucket loads of food.  Buckets!  Without any weight related guilt.  How freeing it is to allow yourself three huge pieces of cake at dinner.  Not full yet?  Have another!  Walking is awesome.  Did I say that all ready?


Seriously now, I am going to remark that there is something quite beautiful and fragrant about the air in Northern Ontario, compared to the air in Montreal.  I can't quite put my finger on the reason behind this... hmmm...


I will also say that after being in the bush, I find it scary to be walking along a busy street in Montreal with cars whizzing past you.  I've become that pioneer girl who grabs the lamp post and closes her eyes as soon as the light turns green.  


I also find it completely maddening that I can't pee wherever and whenever I want to.  In the city I actually have to find a washroom before I can pee.  How weird is that eh?    

Hey!  It's been a while!  I blame exams.  And procrastination.  


I thought I would just write a quick note.  I was doing some research on cars the other day and I found this interesting fact:  


In 2006 Canada had "more than 1.4 million kilometers of roads, enough to circle the globe 35 times"  http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/061109/dq061109b-eng.htm

That's a lot of road.  


Also this photo about "fuel" is awesome: http://www.jasonsager.com/blog/2009/05/fuel.html  

I enjoy the wonders of walking, but sometimes a person needs to get somewhere in less time.  That is why I took up Nordic skiing.  On skis, you can go really fast!

I’m on the Nordic ski team at my school.  I’m bringing this up because I want to mention a game that we play.  It’s called the “mine game”.  Every time someone says the word “mine” they have to do 10 pushups.  It doesn’t matter where they are: class, grocery store, or street, they have to drop and do 10.

This weekend we were talking about people who play variations of this game, such as if you say the work “like” you have to do 5 pushups, or if you say the word “car” you have to do 10 squats.

The car game sparked an idea that I think could get people to drive less.  This is what you can do:  Pick an amount of pushups that you have trouble completing.  Whenever you decide to drive somewhere, before you leave do that amount of pushups.  If you were only intending to drive five blocks to the movie store, you may decide to skip the pushups and walk instead!  It’s a win-win situation because no matter what you’ll get more fit!

Combine that idea with the car game squats, and I’m betting driving will become a thing of the past!  (because, let’s face it, does anyone really prefer squats and pushups to walking?)

I went for a run today.  Beautiful, sunny sky, and everything smelled good because of all the rain we had yesterday.  It was very nice.  I saw something odd though, and I was hoping someone could help me figure this out:

I was on the Mount Royal mountain and coming towards me was another runner.  He was a regular looking, athletic guy; all decked out in the latest running gear.  And he was playing a tambourine.  It was a yellow half tambourine, and he was jingeling it in some sort of beat while he was running.

I had to do a double take.  He didn't look crazy.  He looked like a perfectly normal fellow, probably in his forties.  He had a dog with him, so perhaps it was a training exercise?  Or perhaps the tambourine jingles help him to run faster?

I typed "running with your dog and a tambourine" into Google, but nothing helpful popped up.  I feel like there should be a good reason behind this.  

Any suggestions?  

Because this blog is about walking, in all of its forms, it wouldn't be fair of me to avoid this topic: the Walk of Shame. 


The Walk of Shame, for those who don't know it, is a walk that someone must do (usually around 11am) whilst wearing their fancy dress from the previous evening.  The dress is rather inappropriate for the time of day (short, black, sequins), as is the high heels, dangly bracelets, and small fancy purse.  The hair of this walking lady is fairly messy, and her makeup is quite smeared. She sticks out like a sore thumb, causing passerbys to think, "she is wearing the same outfit she wore last night!"


There are many reasons why a lady might be in such a predicament.  Maybe she lost her house keys and had to stay over at a friend's house.  Maybe she's walking to a photo shoot and that's how the makeup people wanted her to look.  Maybe her house burned down while she was at the grocery store buying a carton of milk.  Maybe she slept over at a cute guy's house.


You know, really, it could be anything.


So, I am going to admit (for undisclosed reasons) that this weekend I walked the walk of shame.  Slightly hung-over, I stumbled the 30 minute walk home in my poor little pair of high heels.  I got a lot of looks, and, of course, I ran into three people that I know.  I had to carry on the most awkward conversation about weather with a fellow from one of my classes while we waited for the stop light to turn green.  Come on stop light, turn green, turn green!


I bring this up because as a No Car person, walks of shame may occur.  It may not be the best part about walking, but if you keep a positive outlook, it's really not that bad. No one who sees you could say that you are a boring person, could they?  And they probably become pretty jealous over all the fun you likely had.  You see?  If you had a car all of this excitement and gossip potential would have been lost!


At least, that's how I'd like to see it.


PS - I wanted to say thank you to John who sent me some nice comments.  I'm glad you like my site!  You should comment on this post and let us know what Walks of Shames are like for guys.  Or do they even exists?           
    

Yay!  So exciting!  I was walking down the street tonight and Montreal was buzzing with people cheering and waving flags.  In the middle of the sidewalk people were expressing their love for hockey, Crosby, Canada, each other, and beer.  It was quite fun.

Actually, in my 15 minute walk, this exact scene played out about four times: 
(I pass a random stranger)
Random Stranger: Wooo!
Me: Wooo!
Random Stranger: Go Canada!
Me: Wooo!
(Random Stranger gives me a high five/hug/punch on the shoulder.)
Me: Wooo!

It's so fun to be walking outside when everyone is out celebrating.  Everything is electric and "random strangers" are on your side.  What a great Olympics!  Congratulations Canadian athletes!   

I'm trying to figure this out:  Whenever I'm late for something, the traffic lights are against me.  Whenever I'm on time, they're in my favor. 

I'm definitely the kind of person who leaves the house late.  You may say, "hey, if you had a car you could get there faster".  But no, I'd still leave my house late.  And then, instead of running to catch up, I'd have my foot on a gas pedal.  It's probably a good thing that I don't drive.

Yesterday I smiled because I saw a business lady running in the streets.  It made me happy because for once I was on time and not the "running person".  And then Karma hit me and made me late for my midterm... 

A little while ago, my friend told me that there was a Facebook group called "I secretly want to punch slow walking people in the back of the head".  When she told me about it, I was like, "oh that's so mean!"  But now, sometimes when I'm hurrying to my destination that image will pop into my head. 

I'll come up to this cute couple who are meandering along, all loving and sweet and holding hands and ... THEY'RE BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK!  I attempt to whiz past, trying my best not to be the annoying "rushed person" that disturbs their beautiful moment, but they're really BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK!  And I'm going to be late.  So I kind of hover behind them.  You can picture it can't you?  Me doing some little stressed-out skips, breathing down the neck of two unaware, beautifully happy people.

I'm not a violent person but times like these make me wish I had never heard of the group "I secretly want to punch slow walking people in the back of the head".  Because now I get that image and I feel guilty.

It's probably a good thing that I don't drive.     

You know when you're walking outside at night and you pass by a lit window?  Well, I'm going to admit something: I peek inside.  Just a quick peek.  Not a stare or an ogle or a gawk.  Just a peek.

My curiosity gets the best of me. 

It's sometimes like looking into a 3rd dimension.  It makes me think "wow, other people have lives too!"  This seems strange because, of course there are other people in the world.  It makes sense that they have homes with which they do stuff in.  But really, you never actually see them.  You get caught up in yourself and your comings and goings, and you become the center of everything.  Nothing else exists but you. 

But then you walk past a lit window and you see someone sitting on the couch watching hockey.  It's a bit of a jolt.  Whoa!  Other people do exist!  And they watch hockey!  In fact, you were just about to go home to watch that exact same hockey game!  And suddenly you are not the center of everything.

I like it when I catch a glimpse families doing things together.  As a 'here and there' student with no real home, that sight gives me a bit of hope.  Or makes me lonely.  But mostly hope, because what are the chances that I'll be living in a little cave apartment all my life?  Someday I'll have a home for myself, someday.