About takin' my walk

I love to walk. Not run, not jog, not power walk, not hike. Walk. I don't go fast, but I can walk for a real long time.
I'll walk anywhere. To the store, to get an ice cream cone, to get a paper, to get a latte. I walk in our addition--if the negative of living in an addition is too many houses that look too much alike, the positive is the ability to walk for miles on wide, safe sidewalks. Which I do. And when you look at the houses as much as I do, you realize they are not all that much alike.
I'll walk in nature areas, city blocks, around the grounds at work, and even inside the building when the weather is bad. I'll walk on the Y track and, even though I hate it, when I have to, I'll walk on the treadmill. Only with the TV on and up real loud, though.
When I'm walking outside, I don't usually wear my mp3 player. I listen to stuff all day long--the radio, my music, my computer, the TV--and when I'm walking, I like real sounds. Cars cruising by, kids playing, lawnmowers, birds, crickets--sirens in the distance, airplanes.
As I walk, I solve the problems of my life and sometimes even the problems of the world. I'm pretty invincible out on a walk. Too bad when I get home I forget all the answers!
I get my love of walking from my dad. He's 84 and walks everywhere, from Walmart (about a mile from their house) to Monroeville (about three miles, but that's down the greenway). When I'm visiting, we always have a new place to walk or a favorite place to revisit. And I always have something to get a Walmart (but not too heavy).
Last night--too warm for October, and that was wonderful. It had been sunny all day, but by 6 the clouds had come and it had already rained a little. I took my umbrella just in case. The rain had chased everyone inside--the sidewalks were empty and no lawnmowers roared or kids hollered and I passed only one dog-walker.
And I enjoyed the relative quiet, and the solitude, and perhaps a last long moment of summer suspended on an October afternoon.
How about you? What walk are you on?