The Walking Paradox

Today I noticed how quiet the world, or at least the area in which I was walking, was. I saw very few cars, very few people walking, and very little noise from other people.

This doesn't mean that people weren't out and about. Although my route was for the most part deserted of people I did encounter crowds at two or three points. I think a man said "hello" but I ignored him for the cardinal sin of not walking single file, down a path, with his companion during the closing days of a pandemic.

"What does it matter?", you may ask. I would love to do a group hike or a group Ferrata but I can't because from a scientific point of view Switzerland is not yet clear of the virus. Meeting in groups of more than five is currently still forbidden. The groups I usually go with could be up to twelve people or more. I don't know how long I will have to wait for the opportunity to do social activities once again.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Richard Azia (@richardazia) on May 21, 2020 at 7:43am PDT

That's why seeing these crowds of people walking down rural roads is so dystopic. To walk this way I would have to break the 2-meter rule several times because I walk faster than those walking in the same direction, and I need to avoid those walking in the opposite direction. If people walked single file this road would still not be ideal, but at least we'd be making an effort.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Richard Azia (@richardazia) on May 21, 2020 at 7:45am PDT

Rest assured that after turning left this is where I walked. A beautiful unpaved path along the trees and a river. I didn't have to avoid anyone until I hit the next village. I did see a woman on horseback and I stopped. I wanted to keep space between the horse and I. Either the woman was spooked, or the horse were, because for a second or two I thought I was going to be charged. "What are you doing?", the woman asked her horse, before continuing on her way.

During this walk I listened to today's episode of Echo Der Zeit about the pharmaceutical industry in America, the Thru Hike podcast about Toby and Maguire, and then started to listen to the next episode. By then I got to the usual petrol station where I could buy a drink.

During walks I like to listen to Audible books because it's a way of learning, whilst enjoying other activities. It should take 11hrs to get through this book. In the process I hope to learn something new.

Speaking of precision, following the CSS Essentials Training course has complemented my understanding of CSS efficiently. I now have a deeper understanding of CSS works and how to control CSS more effectively. I've spent so many hours studying CSS over the last two or three weeks that I am now dreaming of DIV tags in my sleep. I still have fourty minutes of this course remaining, and then I'll jump into Javascript, and that learning curve will be steep.