Neighborhood Walk

My treadmill malfunctioned.  The belt shifted.  Now it slips or hesitates.  Repairs for most anything appear on YouTube.  With video guidance, I recentered the belt, though not without the frustration of trying to find the proper Allen wrench and damaging the back panel of the green velvet recliner that sits to the left of the machine.  Fixing a slipping belt needs more steps.  It also needs special silicone lubricant, not readily available in stores.  Adding it to my amazon.com cart, along with enough other stuff to avoid shipping fees, will bring what I need to resume the scheduled exercise that has enabled me to feel reasonably energetic into my mid-70s.

To substitute exercise mode, I scheduled a walk around the neighborhood.  Same time, same duration.  I cannot measure speed and my development has a few minor upslopes.  Springlike weather thus far.  On my treadmill, I walk wearing night clothes.  Outside, I need to get dressed first.  Long pants, short-sleeved shirt, walking shoes, different ones than I wear on the treadmill.  My machine has a count-up timer and a distance monitor.  I distract myself with a series of tunes, each sequence about five minutes.  For neighborhood walking, my smart watch has both count-down and count-up timers.  I set it for 5 minutes count-down, to repeat five times.  

My first tour lasted a little under 25 minutes.  I changed the route, which brought it just above.  I've driven through my development many times, probably been a pedestrian at each of its streets a few times in the forty years I've owned my house.  I rarely pay attention.  But an exercise walk requires some type of distraction to avoid incessant glances at my timer's progress.  In the process, I've appreciated some new things about my development and the people who live there.  The most obvious attention getters are the front yards.  Some households put a blend of money and labor into making their street view unique and attractive.  Lawns are landscaped with areas set aside with stone edges.  Some have trees, others shrubbery.  While all homes have two-car garages, one or more cars sat on nearly all the driveways, including mine.  A couple homes parked enormous RVs in theirs, though I cannot recall ever seeing one driving down any of our streets.  

American flags adorn a few homes.  Some have erected vertical flagpoles on their front lawns.  Some have flag holders on a porch post which displays Old Glory diagonally.  Since I walk at about 8AM, I cannot tell which homes follow the etiquette of storing their flags indoors overnight, then raising them again at daybreak.  I did not observe any foreign flags, though I'm sure we have people attached to Israel, Palestine, Italy, and Ireland among our residents.

Cars are a necessity.  My route takes me mostly through streets of single-family homes, but we also have one section of condos and townhouses.  They have a parking lot, but many park on the street in front.  On the single home streets, curbside parking is rare.  On one session, I chose to distract myself by looking at the types of cars my neighbors had.  A couple of Mercedes, none brand new.  Mostly Asian vehicles, Toyotas and Hondas.  Hyundai perhaps under-represented, KIAs maybe over-represented.  I don't recall BMWs or Audis.  Not many  VWs, but not zero.  American cars seemed a mixture of Chevy's and Fords.  Minimal Chrysler products.  A few families had two cars of the same brand in their driveways, most had two different brands.  I focused on manufacturer, not on the model, not paying attention thus far to SUVs, sedans, pickups.  And I will assume that all these cars sit on the driveways excluded from their garages by owner's stuff.

There were things I did not see.  First on the list is people.  One other person did her exercise walk in the opposite direction.  A bond forms instantly, with a wave and greeting in each direction, though with care not to stop the pace.  By the time I set out, the kids have already been picked up by their school buses.  Any parents who accompanied them must have returned home.  I expected more dog walkers, or perhaps dogs in yards.  Owners become subservient to their pets' preferred physiologic needs.  I only passed two dogs in four sessions.  One home had a fenced-in yard with a sizable dog that greeted my walking by with a hearty bark and wagging tail.

Vehicular traffic seemed less than expected, though not absent.  By 8AM, people are mostly at their jobs or on their way.  I have n way of determining who in this era works from home.  Some workmen have started their day.  A plumbing truck arrived at one home.  Some landscaping contractors had parked out front, though I suppose people would complain if they ran their high-end, loud mowers at that hour.  One family had some home improvement work.  Ordinarily, when contractors remodel, fix roofs, paint, or engage in other multi-day projects, they typically insert their business sign into the front sod while they work, a quick ad for any who drive by who might need similar work.  I only saw one.  The other sign more prevalent in other neighborhoods but virtually absent in mine are the notices thiat this property is protected by a security agency.  I live in a low crime area, though occasionally the civic association sends an email to residents when somebody's car has been improperly entered.

Eventually, my treadmill will return to function.  As exercise, it has enough advantages over outdoor walking to mostly end my neighborhood walks.  I live in a very stable place.  People with homes that generate pride, vehicles that get us where we want to go when we want to go.  People seem to stay in their own space, whether that be their house, yard, or car.  Not many bikes on the front porches or other evidence of kids.  Not many other exercisers who take advantage of the public thoroughfares but an instant bond between the few that do.

It's different than my childhood housing development.  We had people outside all the time, especially kids, though also likely in school at the times I set out for my walks.  Maybe if I went at a different time I'd see more people or more traffic.  While streets are public, few people opt to enter them, preferring the privacy and control of their houses.  For the most part, I live that way as well.

Belt lubricant arrived in an Amazon box.  It should return to function in another day. As much as I enjoyed the outdoor walks, as exercise it falls short of the regimented program of a treadmill.   Health takes priority.  Other chances to walk in different places will appear, some familiar like my kids' neighborhoods in big cities, others part of travel to places I've not visited previously.  Though not quite  as intense as a treadmill set to a speed for a fixed duration, these walks still offer a reasonable surrogate, one that challenges my observation skills and imagination.