Chesca woke me up early this morning to walk with her to school (it's her first day back). Everything was frozen solid with tiny crystals of ice glittering in the crisp morning light. I love walking as it reminds me of when I was at Twyford and we'd take the same route every day. I find it is one of the best ways to meditate when you have lots on my mind or nothing at all. It's a calming way to reflect after a long day or week and you just keep going, observing small wonders on the way. I took that route before my GCSEs in the summer, when the alleyway going past the allotments was in filled with vines, flowers, birds and pieces of rare urban beauty. The air was fresh and clear, the way it is in summer before the start of a hot day. I would walk that path in sixth form with Chesca and we'd have time to talk before reaching Ealing Common and realising we were late. Then there were the times before then, when I took that route with Chris for the first time. We went past the large houses near the common when the pavement was a thick path of cherry blossom petals which drifted like snow from the heavily burdened trees lining the street.
I have taken that route so many times in my life, occasionally It may alter to suit my mood but it will always be "the route" to school. The one I took when I was filled with the butterflies you get as a teenager when there's someone you can't wait to see (almost every single time a guy). Or the times I would take precise pensive strides after a particularly trying day. The best time however, were the dreamy days when the sun was soft and warm as I took the same route home. I would amble along the streets admiring the houses and picking my favourite ones (they HAD to have good gardens to fill this criteria!) sometime humming a tune to myself. Time would have no meaning - it didn't even exist - and my route would be as long or as short as I felt necessary. There were no pressures or burdens above my head on these days. This is why I still take walks while at Oxford; they're the only things that can settle me if everything feels too much. By doing this I am once again turning that corner into my street, feeling the sunshine on my face and humming the same tune as I take the final steps home.
