Been walking so much the bus looks fast to me.

I’ve blogged a lot about walking.  I know.  It’s something that I don’t do enough (because I am lazy and impatient) but something I enjoy endlessly.

Wednesday, I was at a community meeting at St. Paul Street and North Avenue in Central Baltimore.  It was supposed to last until 7:30 or 8:00, but it was over at 7:04 for pizza and chatting.  I’d already done my “networking” before the meeting started, so I bolted to catch my 7:53 bus at the train station.  On my way from my chair to the door, I thought, “Why should I bullshit in my office until my bus?  I can just walk!”  So when I left the building, I made a left and headed for home.

Sure, folks will chide you for walking through “that area” at “that time of night.”  Dude, 7:00pm dark is not the same as 2:00am dark — and I don’t walk around anywhere at that time (except once in Carbondale when we walked from the train station to home in the dead middle of the night after a trip to Memphis, with a tiny flashlight –  but that’s another story).  I didn’t see anyone sketchy and in fact was the sketchy person to lady who halted her exit from her car until after I passed her around 24th Street.  And for two young ladies carrying their groceries home above 25th Street.

Instead of driving or sitting on an empty bus or pedaling uphill, I got to peak into the big, old, stately houses on St. Paul Street (think 3-story rowhomes with big basements), at folks’ bookshelves and holiday decorations.  I greeted a dozen dog-walkers.  I caught the exam-time buzz as I cut through JHU to University Parkway.  I scared a guy on the section of University Parkway there the streetlights are out and where it is completely pitch black.  And, at the top of the hill, I saw the warm glow of the LED star lights in our windows, on the corner of the building, where warmth, my wife and a pasta dinner awaited.  In all, I walked 3 miles in 45 minutes.  Not that far, but fast, and I was tired.  That distance is small for a hike, but pretty long in a smallish city like Baltimore.

It was an exceptional night.  I read before bed and slept like a baby.

We planned some similar fun walking for Saturday, which is itself worthy of a post.

Pocketful of dimes.

Due to the suspicion that my sinus infection is coming back, being tired and sore and generally feeling like crap, I took the bus to work this morning. It was definitely not the incoming rain. I like riding to work in the rain. I feel as if I should feel like a sell-out for wussing out. But I don’t exactly answer to anyone else about how I get to work. And wussing out of cycling for the first time in over a month for me means taking the bus, not driving some gas-guzzling land yacht or lounging on the backs of servants or something. I have to admit that I have been dying to take some kind of transit since the transit summit the other night. But now my pocketful of dimes is half empty.

Transit Summit at UB.

For those in Baltimore who are interested in transit oriented development like this here guy is:

The second Baltimore Regional Transportation Oriented Development Summit will take place at the University of Baltimore on Tuesday, Feb. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. Free and open to the public, this gathering will feature public and private sector representatives discussing new initiatives, advances in local transportation oriented development planning and the emerging national agenda to promote smart investment in infrastructure and innovation. The event will take place in the M. Scot Kaufman Auditorium in the William H. Thumel Sr. Business Center (home of the Merrick School of Business), 11 W. Mt. Royal Ave.

More info.  I’ll  be there.