Saturday

the walking stones

One of the things that is making the job search more difficult for me is that I have decided I want a job that I can walk/TRAX to. This pretty much confines me to working downtown or at the university. And, really, I'm not opposed to either of those options. I'd love more than anything to get on at the UMFA, but I have a feeling they didn't really want me for their PR/marketing position, which is why they never bothered to call me.

After two years of driving up Parleys nearly every day, I'm ready for a break from that kind of commute. I don't mind a commute; I just don't want to have to be the one driving so that I have time to myself to read.

Additionally, one of the reasons we moved to this house in the first place was because of our grand ideals of being able to walk places. Except we don't do that. At least not as often as we would like. But that's about to change, especially after our trip to Vegas. The only things I really love in Vegas are Cirque du Soleil and the monorail. I like being able to walk to my destinations. The kids complained often about how we were walking everywhere. The strip isn't so long that you should drive anywhere on it. Really. We realize, of course, that the kids are not used to walking places because they live in their monster house in Bountiful with their step-father who is of a size that walking to the mailbox requires exertion.

So I'm looking forward to getting out more, especially considering that my neighborhood has a walk score of 72. Of course, with my luck, I'll end up with a job requiring me to drive, but I'm really trying not to. I'd like to be more socially and environmentally responsible. I realize some may find that to be a great irony when considering my upbringing in the oil fields of Wyoming, but I don't feel that environmental awareness requires us to abandon fossil fuels; it requires us to use them responsibly in conjunction with renewable fuels.

3 comments:

FoxyJ said...

Yeah, I'm having the same thoughts about walking. We're moving to a town that's very walkable/bikeable, but I'm worried I'm just going to end up driving everywhere instead out of laziness. I think walking places takes a lot of commitment because it's not really the norm any more.

Christian said...

Oh. And the other thing that makes it more difficult is that we're just not used to budgeting the time necessary to walk. That takes some adjustment as well.

Th. said...

.

I live maybe half a mile from work.

It's awesome.