One Thousand Miles

This morning when I opened the door to head off to work, I walked right into a noisy bird convention in the front garden.  There was a sparrowish fellow on the grape arbor with distinctive dark stripes along his head, whistling a descending two-note call.  I stood a minute gazing at all that activity, thinking, wondering whether I should scoot back inside to look up that bird, smiling as I thought about how son 2.o would roll his eyes if he'd been there to ask whether it was, in fact, a sparrow.  (Or perhaps a goldfinch?  Are they back?)  And wishing I'd paid more attention in music theory so I could identify the interval of that call.  And then I pulled myself together and realized I was already late, so I'd better scoot.

Just then I sensed a massive black shadow in the sky, looked up, and saw a heron swooping directly overhead.

Although the prospect of spending hours editing recordings in a dark sound booth is never very appealing, on a lovely spring day it's feels pretty grim.  But the walk is pleasant.

And yesterday I hit the one thousand mile mark, a thousand walking and commuting miles.  I only live one mile from work, so I am tickled that I finally made it.

I was chatting with a colleague last week, and mentioned that I'd applied for a position at a university where she used to teach.  I mentioned how disappointed I was that the housing right around the campus was so ridiculously expensive.  There would be no way I could live on the salary offered and rent or buy housing nearby.  She looked at me and said, "Well, there's plenty of affordable housing a few miles out.  You'd just drive in."  When I told her it was important to me to be able to walk or bike, she blinked and paused a long moment.  "Oh."

It never occurred to her that proximity to home would be a priority, an important criterion in looking for a position, and it hadn't occurred to me that proximity wouldn't be important.  It was a funny moment.

I'm so very lucky now.  I'd miss the birds, and the sweet toddler neighbor I met a while back, and friendly exchanges, if I drove every day.

And I'd be paying a higher price for all the chocolate I eat, too.