As I was biking into work today, I couldn't help but think about how I am so committed - almost obsessively so - to biking into work whenever possible. It is my way to connect with the day. It's amazing how many simple things I experience on these rides can help shape the nature of my morning, maybe even my day. There is a traffic guard at William Penn School just down the street who is always such a bright spot when she is the one directing foot traffic. I wonder if she knows how her smile and friendly nature really impact me and others she comes into contact with. It is like she really remembers me, even knows me, and for a moment I feel a little bit less anonymous, a bigger part of this community of Philadelphia that I call home for now. Belonging.
These slower, more human scale, means of transport are quieter and literally more "down to earth" - touching the earth. So much more interactive than life behind a windshield, power windows, with my radio blaring.. making up a completely separate little universe. I think they also help me connect more quickly with my new "home" environments when I move to a new place. Smelling the honeysuckle, the exhaust (yuck!, and there is a lot of it here in Philly); hearing people chatting to each other on the sidewalks, birds singing, music blaring, horns honking - sometimes the wind - AND seeing everything with a touch more, or substantially more detail, depending upon my pace. I never feel "at home" in a new place until I have walked, biked or run through significant parts of it. I get a huge amount of almost sneaky satisfaction knowing that I biked through parts of San Francisco and now, Philly, that many people who grew up in that city have never seen or maybe even heard of. Discovery.
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