I will confess straight out that I live in a place where walking is probably easier then most of suburban America, and I am a person who probably makes an effort to do more on foot than the average suburbanite. I mean, we made the effort to move into town so that we could use our car less, and I like to believe that we do use it less now that things are more accessible to us. But two things occurred today that reminded me how easy it is to use your fall-back mode of transportation–the car–when in reality, if you make the time and the effort, walking makes so much more sense.

For starters my youngest daughter had a soccer game today on the local middle school’s fields. This is about 3/4 of a mile from my home, and in our car-driven society, probably a perfectly acceptable distance to drive to and from. But today was a beautiful, sunny day (albeit crisp and cold), and my dog hadn’t yet been walked. Also, if my older daughter had her druthers, she would have stayed in pajamas all day and never left the couch. Knowing this we decided to walk to my daughter’s soccer game because, truthfully, we had the time and we could all use the exercise. Sure, driving would have been easier and faster–less than five minutes to the fields instead of 10 to 15 minutes walking. But we walked there, and we walked home, too. And nobody died from exhaustion.

Then later in the afternoon, we needed to get a bottle of wine to bring to a friend’s house, where we’d been invited for dinner this evening. Again, I could have jumped in the car and driven to the local wine and spirits shop by the grocery store. That’s about 1.5 miles away and not along any walking-friendly roadways. However, then I remembered that I could walk to another liquor shop–which just happens to be across the river. But the bridge has a pedestrian walkway, and it’s a pretty walk, too–about 1 mile away. So I grabbed my reusable tote bag, put my walking shoes back on, and off I went to get wine. It took me about 20 minutes to get there, five minutes to browse the aisles (did you know Yellow Tail is making a Pinot Grigio these days?) and pay for my purchase, and 20 minutes to walk back home.

Dinner this evening was at a home down the street, so of course we walked to and from that, too.

In the course of one day, I managed not to get in my car at all, yet I had a full, social day. Can you figure out a way some time in the next week or two where you could have a full day, too, and not get in your car? Maybe you can’t walk places as easily as I can, but can you ride your bike? Hop on public transportation? Strap on your roller skates? It’s really refreshing not driving, and I know that I’m doing Mother Earth and my pocketbook good when I make the effort to walk. Let me know if you can find a way to do the same.