Monday, August 11, 2008

so you think you can walk ...

You may recall (given that it was just a few blog posts ago) that back in November (yes I really do need to post more frequently) we gave up our two cars and scaled down to one. I had great hopes at the time that this change would result in my taking advantage of other forms of transportation such as walking and the magical thing called the bus. Alas, my habits haven't changed much.

This weekend I was again reminded of why walking can be so much better than driving.

In preparation for our upcoming vacation - it is a "walking vacation" - I decided that rather than drive downtown to run my errands I would make the trek on foot. Wow, Seattle is a really cool city when you don't have to worry about finding a parking spot.

I think the highlight was coming upon the international fountain just as it started it's musical performance. I had no idea that the fountain plays classical music and shoots off water like dancing raindrops. Go figure. Very Cool!

The low point was the man who almost killed me by running a red light while speeding down 3rd ave. Fortunately, I saw him coming and stopped mid-way. He saw me at the last minute and slammed on his breaks to amazing effect - screeeches and burned rubber. I guess what we learned in Kindergarden about always looking both ways continues to be the best advice I've ever received.