Generations Walking

I recently posted an article about how in several generations a family started to walk less and less.  My family is reversing that tradition.  Talking with my father now he says that he remembers that his mother would never consider walking a mile.  These days he is walking two miles one way just to pick up my children from preschool.   My twin, just four years old, boys regularly walk two mile round trips and will walk at least part of the way home from preschool.

This ethic doesn't just happen overnight.  It is a way of living.  I remember as a child walking long distances and riding public transit whenever we were on trips.  We didn't want to spend the money on taxis. I learned it was a great way to experience new places, even though we usually walked for longer than my little sister wanted.   By the time I was in high school, I knew that I could get to and from my school (four miles from my houses) a myriad of ways: biking, riding public transit, the school bus, or on a rare occasion a ride in a car.  Now I live in an urban environment where there are many options of transport as well.  We have one car and it mostly sits.   For my family we have been changing the pattern that my dad says came after World War II, when soldiers came back from war and were ready to sit.   But, now three or four generations since then some people have forgotten what it means to walk.   Local groups are gathering together to bring walking back like the Seattle Greenways or Sound Steps for seniors.  However,  it is a slow reversal in trends.  When I recently toured the neighborhood school, the tour guide said that their are some walking school busses on Fridays and that sometimes kids bike on Fridays, but  most of that stops in the winter.  Kids are still not even able to walk to school despite it being so healthy for them.