Walks

Some responses came from some old blogs. Many wanted know why I took my children on walks every afternoon. One particularly nosy creature went on to say it was 'archaic practice'. Honestly, I have no answer. I took them because I liked to walk with them, because the dog had to be taken for his afternoon walk, because I had to fetch the milk (a big can) on the same trip, because the children would have been shut in the house after lunch, because I wanted to unwind after College, because the help at home needed time-off from the children.......mostly because we all enjoyed it immensely. We loved to walk, dog and all.

The afternoon walk was always treasured. I came back from College. The children would have their milk. Toro (later Boss) would have his lunch. The children would clean up, wear their sneakers. The pram taken out. The younger one strapped in the pram. And we would go on our walk. Dog and pram and milk can and children.

Notwithstanding the weather we would walk. In summer they would wear sun- hats (4pm would be quite sunny), in winter they would wear warm clothes, in the rains they would wear raincoats.....but hardly was there a day when the afternoon walk was disrupted. When the pram could be done away with, I held their tiny hands and made them walk. Slowly, for the little one to catch up, but walk we did. In Golf Green, in Park Circus......till they were about seven or eight years old and could run and play on their own with the local children, we walked every afternoon. Toro or Boss continued to give me company on these afternoon walks after the children grew up.

The upshot of these walk ----

1. The children grew up with straight sturdy legs. Very unlike the skinny legs of their contemporary city children. Even today, their legs are straight and long and muscular.

2. Maybe because they were exposed to all types of weather, they hardly ever caught colds.

3. They learned to love walking. The walked when they were angry, they walked when they were happy. They walked on the beach....and phoned to say how beautiful the clouds were. They walked on the hills and found peace within. They walked on city asphalt roads (roads all over the world) and said...."Ma, you know, all roads and all walks lead Home."

Later.......much later, we walked in the hills, on treks, in small town high streets, in big-city by-lanes, in the green country side, in the wild forests, through golden wheatfields. We smelled the air, felt the breeze, took in the totality of the walk and shared with each other the otherwise individual walks. We all felt great.

Walks were and still are an integral part of our lives. So what if we are one less now.....on walks , the guy is around.