Walking at lunch

"Why Mr. Olnutt!  I never supposed a mere physical experience could be so exhilarating!"

My office was cold and stuffy. The day was grey and miserable. My knees hurt. My hand hurt. I was hunching over from cold and stress. I had a lot of work, but some thinking and planning that needed doing. I had to get out.

This is the walk I took today at lunch:

Route: Wash Monument
Activity: Walk
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/cSHVkg
Started: May 18, 2010 12:07:51 PM
Walk Time: 33:34
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 1.77 miles
Average: 18:57 /mile
Fastest Pace: 15:19 /mile
Climb: 112 feet
Calories: 145

I wasn't sure I was going to go because it was cold and rainy. But I brought my slicker into the office so it was an option, then I changed to the Nikes not because they were necessary but in case my feet got wet.

At first it was as nasty as I supposed. I had the slicker zipped and the hood up, even though it was not actually raining. I had planned to go in a different direction from my usual, just to shake things up. I hesitated on the direction once I got out there, because that meant starting with my back to the wind and I usually prefer to go upwind first - whether sailing, walking, or biking. But I stuck with my plan, thinking I would be warmer on the way back just from the exercise.

I work in one of the greatest places on earth. It's the capital of the free world, and my office sits on the nation's front yard, the National Mall. In one direction is the Capitol. In the other, the Washington Monument, and on down that direction are the other memorials and, in season, the cherry blossoms. I've just got to get out more and appreciate it.

I started out in the Ripley Garden, an absolute gem of a tiny little eden with a single queen in charge of it, the gardener I've seen for several years. She was pointing out a different forms of the same plant to tourists from the middle of the bed she was working in. I plowed past the carousel and the Hirschorn sculpture garden, gave a pass to the National Gallery's sculpture garden, and hung a left at the Natural History Museum, remembering an article I just read about the hominid exhibit there. Must get back there to see it - maybe with a kid? Oh joy, they are staying open until 7:30 pm this summer, according to their banner.

After a bit, I really opened up and started striding. I stood up straight and felt the muscles in my thighs stretching with every step. It felt good! The wind and the damp became exhilarating rather than depressing.

I like looking at the people I pass. There were the government gnomes like me, male and female all with their tags around their necks, usually in twos or threes talking as much as walking. There were the runners, lean and scantily clad, most often solo, usually with ipods in their ears. The school trips, with matching tshirts and all the kids ignoring the anxious chaperones sheepdogging them along. The earnest mid-westerners in sensible shoes and shoulder bags, paying their respects at the war memorials and gazing at the Constitution. The Japanese tourist turning the map and himself round and round trying to get oriented properly. The twenty-something with an enormous backpack striding along purposefully towards the expressway. The uniformed security guard at the Washington Monument stepping away for a cigarette break. The motorcycle escort for the limo with unknown flags on its fenders, running a red light and followed by a black SUV with lights flashing.

The base of the Washington Monument rests on a little hill. I can see the monument from my office, but the view from it is different from the view to it. I could see down the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial, and to the Potomac and Virginia beyond it. I've walked all over that territory, especially a few years ago when I trained for the Avon Two-Day. Many places to go and things to see. It will be years before I get tired of this.

On the way back, I noticed the new little vegetable garden outside the Agriculture Department - I'd read about it in the Post. I passed through the Enid Haupt Garden, full of palm trees and other tropical delights in containers that have inspired some of my more dramatic gardening gestures. I loved feeling the brisk wind in my face and unzipped my slicker. I felt the mechanics of walking, the muscles moving, my spine straightening, and I wanted to go on for hours.

Alas, responsibilities won out and I went back in to work.  But it was really good.