I never wanted to play sports. I went to tennis camp and my parents eventually stopped sending me because I spent all the time happily collecting the balls (the ball hopper thing was the most interesting thing ever) and building pyramids out of them. Clearly, a waste of their money and a frustration for the teachers who kept trying to make me do it their way and finding themselves thwarted by an eleven-twelve-year-old. (Did I mention that I was preternaturally stubborn?) I did take tennis lessons later at a tennis club we joined, but we never made full use of the membership any of us and it was dropped. When summer starts up, though, I'm going to my parents' country club as often as possible to use the pool. Schweet!
For a second there, I misread your second paragraph as your being happy to go back to Texas because you would be wandering around (which was at odds with the rest of what you said). Silly. Anywho, I totally agree. I would walk anywhere with a destination in mind. That's why I chose Staples. Flimsiest of premises--I needed some paper cases for DVDs--but it gave me a goal and that made the walk worthwhile. My brother-in-law used to do that in San Francisco, too; he called it "urban hiking," which it is. I need to explore more of the city anyway, but doing it willy-nilly without company (in company, that sort of wandering is okay because you're still socializing) doesn't appeal. You need direction and you can then get there and back however you choose.
The trip to your aunt and uncle's house is a great example of what's wrong with our car culture. Growing up in New York and having parents who didn't really pamper me, I am used to walking everywhere. I was lucky enough to start early, though, since I lived two blocks from my elementary school. From there, it was a longer walk to the bus stop for middle school (and I frequently would miss the bus--by accident or on purpose--on the way back and would walk it; yikes Google says that's almost two miles). I think I preferred not being on the bus with kids who weren't, generally, my friends. And I walked a little under a mile to high school until I could drive. (Too close for the bus, older sibs never in high school at the same time to drive me, and my parents never would/could drive me.) So I walked a lot.
Then I went to college and met...Californians. Southern Californians are THE WORST about walking. Apparently everyone in LA drives or takes the bus even if they're going three steps. Given LA's sprawl, some of that makes sense. (Greater population and less geographical space have forced southern New York into tighter accommodations.) It's the trade off you make for having less of an urban environment, I guess.
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Date: 2009-02-06 03:44 pm (UTC)For a second there, I misread your second paragraph as your being happy to go back to Texas because you would be wandering around (which was at odds with the rest of what you said). Silly. Anywho, I totally agree. I would walk anywhere with a destination in mind. That's why I chose Staples. Flimsiest of premises--I needed some paper cases for DVDs--but it gave me a goal and that made the walk worthwhile. My brother-in-law used to do that in San Francisco, too; he called it "urban hiking," which it is. I need to explore more of the city anyway, but doing it willy-nilly without company (in company, that sort of wandering is okay because you're still socializing) doesn't appeal. You need direction and you can then get there and back however you choose.
The trip to your aunt and uncle's house is a great example of what's wrong with our car culture. Growing up in New York and having parents who didn't really pamper me, I am used to walking everywhere. I was lucky enough to start early, though, since I lived two blocks from my elementary school. From there, it was a longer walk to the bus stop for middle school (and I frequently would miss the bus--by accident or on purpose--on the way back and would walk it; yikes Google says that's almost two miles). I think I preferred not being on the bus with kids who weren't, generally, my friends. And I walked a little under a mile to high school until I could drive. (Too close for the bus, older sibs never in high school at the same time to drive me, and my parents never would/could drive me.) So I walked a lot.
Then I went to college and met...Californians. Southern Californians are THE WORST about walking. Apparently everyone in LA drives or takes the bus even if they're going three steps. Given LA's sprawl, some of that makes sense. (Greater population and less geographical space have forced southern New York into tighter accommodations.) It's the trade off you make for having less of an urban environment, I guess.