Walking
Matt Seinberg

What's so special about walking you ask? When you can't do it, you realize how much you took it for granted. It’s scary, knowing what you once could do, you no longer can do.

Humans begin walking at roughly eleven months old.

Human babies will begin walking at around the age of 11 months or later, if they like crawling and being picked up and taken everywhere all the time. My two girls both started walking at around 11 months and, of course, they got into everything.

I'll never forget the time that we took Michelle to the mall, for the first time, in her little umbrella stroller, and she wanted to get out. What a mistake that was, for us, though good for her. After that, there was no putting her back into a stroller again, unless she was tired.

Once Melissa started to walk, that's all she wanted to do. She didn't care what family member was with her. She’d grab a hand and walk along.

I remember, as a kid, going to the New York Auto Show, at the old New York Coliseum at Columbus Circle, with my father. We always walked to and from Penn Station, which is 24 blocks, each way, 33^rd Street at 7th Avenue to 57th Street at 7^th Avenue. We usually stopped to get something to eat on at least one of those trips.

New York City is for walkers, as Los Angeles is for cars.

Walking in NYC is like nothing else. The sights, the sounds, the smells, oh my gawd, the smells, and the people are as nowhere else. Back when, people looked up and forward when they walked on the streets. Now, glued to their phones, I don't understand how walkers can walk, with their heads down, without running into someone.

Last year, my uncle, from Oregon, was in New York for a visit. Except for one ride in the subway, we walked everywhere. We started at Penn Station and walked to view all the holiday display that the department stores set up. We went to Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor, Tiffany and I don't know how many more. We ended up by Central Park and walked north from there.

That was a very long day.

I don't use my phone when I'm out walking, unless someone calls me. It's usually too bright outside to see anything. What's the point?

This summer, I've gone out walking either during the day or after dinner just so I can see how far I can go. At work, I'm on my feet at least half the day, walking around doing what I need to do. When you have a bad back, bad feet and knees, it's not always easy to make it through the day in one piece.

At least half my friends at work suffer from one of the above, and we commiserate on what is hurting on any particular day. It's not only "older" people that suffer these ailments. Some of my younger co-workers also suffer from various aches and pains.

Hopefully, most my aches and pains will be gone because I've done all this extra walking at home and other tasks that can't be mentioned at this time. Stay tuned, there’s more to come!

Walking may be the best exercise.

When in doubt about any sort of exercising, go walking. Your body will eventually thank you for it.