“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 904 (Wednesday) – walk abo

Construction fencing and a
pile of dirt on Market Street.

This afternoon, it felt like a good decision to take a walk. In a preliminary test of the fuzzy idea to walk to work someday, the route chosen was Merrimack Street towards home. The street was mostly level and sidewalks were constricted by construction site fencing, but it wasn’t awful. 

One of the impediments to execution of the “walk to work” fantasy is distance. Mapping shows there are 1.7 miles between home and work by foot. That will take a bit of time. After walking to work, then working all day, the idea of walking home feels a bit too daunting, and spending money on an Uber or Lyft ride would be an extra expense.

Today’s walk was educational. At the one-quarter mile mark the left leg, broken 11 years ago, hurt. Every step hurt between the knee and ankle, but only when weight was transferred to the left leg, so it was only for half of the steps. The total distance was a smidge shy of a mile at 0.97 and if not for the leg pain which had me wondering if I was traveling with a visible limp, the few steps needed to hit a full mile would have been taken.

Mural from the Market
Street sidewalk.

The uncomfortable after effects and paranoia about a potential limp have been annoying, but the walk itself was pretty decent. There were the usual Lowell sights like canals and a huge dirt pile peeking over the fencing at a construction site. A bit further down the same street, there was a view of one of the new murals up close. Or at least, from the sidewalk outside the building with the mural, instead of from across the street or one or two blocks away. 

Knowledge was gained. Sophia’s, the Greek market with Val-Pak coupons, was discovered to be closer to work than I thought, which was a nice surprise and now I know where to go to use the Val-Pak coupon in today’s mail. It must be a sign. And knowing the current, new limitations of walking on flat terrain is depressing, but good to know. Now to figure out what to do about it.