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Catkins in January
Until today I didn’t know what catkins were because I never looked them up. “A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals…” according to Wikipedia. They are out at the moment and I know this is unusual because a few days ago I saw an article about how it was unusual to have pollen warnings at this time of year.
The Swiss weather app shows that there is a lot of pollen. It’s quite funny because if you look at the map of snow and the map of pollen you see that where there is snow there is no pollen, or at least that was the case. With wind movements this situation could have changed. Winter is mild. Pollen is early. Plants are adapting to the changing climate by pollinating out of season.
Audiobooks, Instead of Podcasts
I love books, and I love podcasts. We will never get to the end of our podcast queue, but we will work towards the end of our reading lists. My reading list is 70+ books long so it would take months of effort to get through. My goal is not that ambitious. My goal is to read the 25 books this year, that I set out to read. I am three behind schedule. At the start I was seven behind schedule so I have made up for the time that I have been missing. We will see whether I reach this year’s goal.
The Pre-Lunch Walk
The pre-lunch walk was nice. I went from seeing cattle that were resting to cattle that were eating grass with the alps as a backdrop, as well as the Mont Blanc. I also saw a tractor with a trailer filled with beets drive by me before dumping its load into a field, waiting to be transported at a later time. I also another tractor unloading its cargo into a conveyor system to dump onto a train, for transport. The walk was interesting, due in part, to walking a slightly different route at a different time of day.
Desaturating The Mind on Twitter
Not all tweets are positive, and not all tweets are according to your values and your desires. That being written, not all tweets warrant a response, and not all tweets deserve an argument. Recently someone has responded to tweets of mine, but rather than to have a conversation and to listen, to impose their view. Oh, you think this, but that’s what others think. Twice I have considered blocking that person because twice it has made me uncomfortable.
I am a single person, living alone, and in between contracts. I use social media to establish personal connections, and to feel less solitude. What I have felt, with this individual, at least twice, is rage, and a desire to block them. If I write something that you don’t agree with, ignore it. Don’t bludgeon me with “but people think something different.”
In the grand scheme of things the question is not whether people think differently, but whether the difference of opinions of two people sees the rights of one, put upon by the habits of the other. If I need to close the window, and turn on the extractor fan, I am not the unreasonable one. I am not the one that is being selfish.
I have now blocked the person who likes to impose their views and opinions, rather than just listen.
And Finally – 1st Thoughts on the SIgg Shield One
It’s heavy and the handle is not as wide as I thought it was. It does open easily but the part that is meant to keep clean, seems to trap water. It was dry when I checked now. The difference in weight between the Sigg Traveller, which is similar to my old bottle is 147 grams, compared to 230. That 100 gram difference is big when you’re hiking or climbing. This is a bottle that would be good for work, the home or a flat short walk.
Another Walk By The Mediterranean.
One treat of being in Spain is that some people do wear masks when walking outdoors. You are normal for wearing a mask.
In Switzerland you are looked at as if you are eccentric or absurd. It is nice not to be looked at as a curiousity. It is nice to have the security of a mask without feeling like a freak.
A paradox of mask wearing in Spain is that it’s hot. In theory this would make it less appealing to wear a mask but it has no effect. People still want to be safe.
Seesmic from the mountains (via QIK)
Whilst the connection is unstable and slow I decided to take the phone and Qik some landscapes from La Dole in Switzerland. Here are a few streams. As more people enjoy streaming live video from interesting locations so this will become a more common site.
What I hope to do next is go to some of the higher peaks and stream from there too. Overtime we could have a nice collection of footage.
The Habit of Walking
This morning I decided to go for a benchmark run for a new Garmin training plan. After I ran the required 5 minutes and four minutes of walking I continued with my walk. I had a route that I wanted to walk but because I saw people, and dogs on the paths that I was thinking of walking down I took a bigger loop once, then again, and then a third time. In the end I walked 12,000 steps this morning. I walked from Nyon to Cheserex to Borex to Arnex and back towards Nyon.
This is more than a five minute walk. Between running, and walking it took me one and a half to two hours. That’s the same time as it would take on the buses. That’s because the bus route is long and winding. I am not hear to discuss buses.
This walk illustrates that if we gather the habit of walking from one place to another, without getting into a car, the area within which we live actually shrinks, rather than grows. That’s because buses, trams, the London Underground and other forms of transport skew our perception of time and distance. What feels like a massive distance on the Roman Metro is actually an easy walk on the surface. It’s the same in London. The centre of London is tiny, once you build a mental map, by walking around.
Endangered by a Dangerous Driver
The same is true of the Swiss countryside. It’s because my scooter was crashed into by a woman staring at her phone, rather than the road in front of her. The scooter and I skidded several meters but I stayed upright, but the rear shock absorber was skewed. I was fine but I still went to the hospital for a checkup, in case of pain later on.
When the scooter was in for repairs I was forced to walk to the scooter place several times to learn about progress. As I did this several times the distance went from feeling long, to feeling short. Over time I expanded my local walking habit until I could walk from where I live to Founex, to Gingins to Crassier, Nyon and beyond.
When I realised that I had so many walking routes that I could appreciate, without getting into a polluting car I kept the habit. We always hear about how we need to make towns pedestrian friendly, and how we need to reduce speed limits. I think this is forking stupid. I think we should focus on making it possible to walk from villages, from the suburbs, to towns, without feeling the need to drive.
The Default Car Habit
Dog walkers, and others, get into a car to do a three or four kilometre walk several driving minutes from home. If pedestrian, and cycling routes were added parallel to roads the need for cars for short journeys would vanish. We need cars, not because we don’t want to walk from A to B, but because there is a busy road that feels to dangerous to walk along.
Recently I decided not to walk towards the lake anymore. I like the road and I like the landscapes but cars drive along these narrow agricultural roads at speed. People wave to thank me for standing a meter or two from the roads, but I stand so far from the road because they drive like homicidal maniacs. It’s not safe to walk near the road.
Dedicated Walking Routes
I will keep repeating myself. We need safe walking roads that are banned to cars, for cycling and walking. It is counterproductive to say “if you drive to this parking, and walk along that loop you will encounter no cars. These cars are dangerous around me, a solitary male, which is normal. What horrifies me is that they behave the same with women walking with prams, couples and more.
It is counterproductive to speak about wanting people to have a walking culture, if to walk, or cycle, is to expose yourself to people speeding by you, too fast and too close. The environment won’t benefit from people like me, for as long as people speed and drive too close to pedestrians.
The Pandemic Honeymoon
During the pandemic I had enormous walking freedom, because the mental illness of driving had vanished for a few weeks, so walking was safe. When the mental illness of driving came back so all the routes I had enjoyed became dangerous and emotionally toxic. I went from having dozens of walking route down to a single circuit now, that I can do clockwise, or anti-clockwise, for diversity.
I had the mental illness of getting into a car to do an 8km walk two hours from home, instead of just walking eight kilometres from home. It frustrates me that so many walking routes that I enjoyed are too dangerous to walk now.
Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg are speaking of 30km/h limits in town, but it’s not in towns that you need to lower the speed. You need to make it enjoyable to walk from villages, into towns, and vice versa. You need to get people to forget about their cars. You need people to feel safe walking from Cheserex to Nyon, from Borex to Grens, and from Céligny to Arnex.
And Finally
When you walk from home, you see more. You see the migration of cows from their fields, to be milked. You see sheep in one field one day, and in another field three days later. You see the crops grow, get harvested and new crops planted. You notice the beehives and the plants that the bees love. You also get to know every single local road. If you look at the heat map I generate by walking and cycling you will see how well I know the local area.
Walking is a pleasure, but too many people are driving like maniacs, because they’re in a rush. If they left the car parked, and walked to where they need to be, they’d be calmer. People need to learn to leave their cars parked, and walk.
I don’t want to see my old habit of driving every day come back. I like that I walk and cycle three to four days in a row, using the car just to shop, and only because of the 15 minute rule. If not for the 15 minute rule I wouldn’t use the car for shopping.