Thursday 27 April 2017

W = Walking


After a veritable lifetime of practice, I thought I had this walking thing under control. 
Four months of living in London has put paid to that little bit of hubris. 

To be fair, it's not all my fault. I'm more than willing to lay a large part of the blame squarely at the feet of the City of Westminster. 
And the generations of brown-brogue-wearing British engineers before them.
  
With no car, walking is now my main mode of transport. So, with near-GPS precision, I am locating every wobbly bit of paving, each uniquely uneven cobblestone and any crumbling piece of street gutter in greater London.
And stepping on it. 
Almost certainly with my left foot.

I am perfecting the art of what I call the half-faint-stumble. You know, that ever so elegant move where your foot (in my case the left but some of you may lead with your right) your foot spontaneously flips from horizontal to vertical, and you find that your ankle is now located where your heel should be. Indeed, where your heel was just a millisecond ago. With your centre of gravity momentarily in shock, you lurch gracefully into albatross-about-to-take-flight position in a bid to avoid the complete faint-fall-stumble face-plant.
At least, I do.
Every. Damned. Day.              

Two of Charles Darwin's walking sticks.
Medicine Man Gallery, Wellcome Collection


Perhaps I should take my lead from the eminently sensible Charles Darwin, renowned scientist and exponent of the walking stick.

Apparently, Mr Darwin did his best thinking on foot. Such a strong believer in the power of the walking stick was he that a distinctive tappy-tappy was, reputedly, how others knew he was in the vicinity. But I'm afraid that, today, the approach of the great Grand Pooh-Bah of natural history would also be accompanied by a great deal of tut-tut and tsk-tsking. 
His favoured aids-de-walking are made of whale bone, ivory and animal horn.
Tut-tsk.

I have nothing but admiration for all those gorgeous young things teetering about the streets of London on their spike heels, playing peak-hour footpath chicken in stiff-soled wedges and dashing down to the Tube in their prodigious platforms. 
My days in high heels are long gone. On those rare occasions when I break them out, I invariably find my night's sleep pierced by my own screams as cramp to rival the Hulk trying not to let Betty Ross slip through his grasp grips my calves.



Indian fakir sandals, Wellcome Collection
iPhone pic edited in Snapseed



But do you think maybe I could cultivate better balance by giving the world's least flexible sandals a go?











During the month of April, I am participating in the Blogging from A–Z Challenge.


19 comments:

  1. Walking is part of what makes us human and we don't do enough of it. I can't imagine walking with those shoes, but I have used staffs when carrying packs. Enjoy London.

    http://sagecoveredhills.blogspot.com/2017/04/w-is-for-white-dwarf.html

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    1. I DO enjoy walking the parks here... the paths seem to be safer for me.

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  2. Most Canadian cities have well-paved even sidewalks and walking paths, but when we were in Scandinavia last summer, we faces, street after street of cobblestones. Leaning to walk on them and not twist an ankle id a worthy feat. You have my empathy. Find me here. LINK

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    1. Even in flats I find the cobble stones hard on the old feet.

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  3. When I went to Europe I was gobsmacked at the ability of young women to walk in stilettos on cobblestone streets - I was in sneakers and still watched where I put my feet!
    Leanne | cresting the hill

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    1. Exactly... I think they're marvellous.
      Or mad.
      Or maybe both.

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  4. I walk every day but not in a city. thank goodness. 11 years exercise after a stroke drove me to it and now our car belongs to my wife.

    T for Top Withens and a wild place to walk. http://bit.ly/2p6xKj1

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    1. I'm accustomed to beach walking, so London streets are a challenge. But fun, none-the-less.

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  5. OUCH. I thought plantar fasciitis was bad, but those fakir sandals. As I said, ouch!

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    1. And in Australia we call those flip-flop sandals thongs...
      A whole other sort of ouch!!

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    2. oh yes, we used to call them thongs, but now you get such a strong reaction that I avoid calling them thongs at all costs!

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  6. I live in trainers or flat boots or flat sandals or ....anything flat! lol

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    1. Yes, there is definitely an age that should be labelled "sensible heels".

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  7. I've sprained my left ankle (and ONLY my left ankle) badly enough to be on crutches five times - heels went the way of the dodo twenty years ago. (Which is both bad, cuz I can wear heels, and good - because they make me so tall I tend to overshoot doorknobs when I reach for them, unless I'm really paying attention to what I'm doing... which rarely happens.)

    All that to say... I get it!

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  8. Ooooh those sandals look a bit spiky, I thought spike heels were in not spike soles!!!

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  9. Wow! I know sadhus lay on beds of spikes -- think at least fifty of those non-flexi sandals! Walking on our sidewalks is pretty much how you described. I have always worn flat heeled footwear and now, I wear lace-up canvas shoes because who knows what I'll step into! I walk a lot, possessing no wheels of my own and live in constant fear of spraining an ankle. The right one usually, but the left is quite impartial.

    I like that walking stick! Makes a nice weapon, also!

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  10. So we have a matching set of dodgy feet, too. Although I suspect mine is considerably larger than yours. My dad always used to say I had a good grip onthe planet.

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  11. Oh, my! Just call me Grace, we say in Texas when we find ourselves walking on our ankles. Darwin was not worried about the items his canes were made from as surely some species would evolve to make new materaials. 😉

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  12. A Texan saying to add to my collection... Love it. And I think you're being very generous to Mr Darwin.
    On a side note.. I went to a talk at Wellcome on Sunday by the horticulturist (a man... so no Dorothy Parker references) who was responsible for restoring the garden at Darwin's house to the way it had been in his lifetime. Fascinating.

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