Come take my Happy Walk with me :)

When Katy first told us about the Walking assignment I automatically knew where I wanted to go. I have an elementary school close to my house and often I take walks there with people. Usually when I walk with friends and family, we have deep conversations. I knew right away I wanted to walk there because I never walk there by myself. It would be a change and something new even though I've taken the same walk over a dozen times.

This walk really symbolizes getting personal, thinking deeply about how you feel and whats going on in your life to me. Its a time period where you get to know yourself and let your thoughts take over you. When do we ever have time for ourselves? I knew it was crucial that I took this walk. It was almost a date with myself.

Rules for my Walk:
1. Don't step on any cracks.
2. Only go out when the sun is out.
3. Wave at every person that drives by.
4. Say Hello to every person that walks by. Try to start a conversation.
5. Write my thoughts down at every intersection.

Documentations for this walk:
1. A map of my route with little icons indicating waves, hellos and cracks.
2. Pictures of intersections, interesting things, cracks and anything else.
3. Journal of thoughts and observations during the walk.

PRE WALK
I had already sketched out my map on a large piece of paper so I had a mental picture of what I was going to work with when I was done with my walk. I waited all weekend for the sun to come out but it never did! I was freaking out because I knew I had to take the walk and without the sun I couldn't! So Sunday rolled around and it was already 4:30 p.m and I thought to myself, I have to break the rule or I would never end up going on the walk. Great start huh? Broke a rule before I even started the walk.

MY WALK
I will now illustrate my walk through pictures and my thoughts as they came.



So it was 5:04 P.M when I left my house with a bag, journal, pencil, snacks and camera.


& it begins. My starting point. Up trevino st. My neighbor was cutting his grass, a girl was riding her bike, a man was walking his dog, and two men were talking. I waved at two people and both smiled back at me. It was a bit chilly with a breeze in the air so I was thankful that I was wearing a sweatshirt. The lawn mower was really loud but I could still hear the birds chirping. It smelt like freshly cut grass. The man walking his dog said hello to me too :)


Neighbor with daughter on her pink bike :)


Trevino & 137th. I waved at five people and only one waved back, the rest just smiled. Someone just cut there grass here too, I can smell it and see the remains on the floor. A very low plane flew by. Someone is sitting in their white car, their door is open and one of their leg is hanging out. I can't hear the lawn mower anymore.



Bye Bye Trevino!


Freshly Cut Grass! MMmmmmm..





Beautiful sunflowers I had to take pictures of on my way down 137th. They made me so happy. It reminded me of my days back in early highschool when I use to walk back home from the bus stop and always see these. Something about sunflowers, they always brighten up your day!


137th & Hogan. A boy probably in highschool is skateboarding down the street. I waved, he looked at me like I was a freak. I waved at four more people, one waved back. There are lots of white floaties in the air. Is there a name for them? THE SUN IS OUT! 5 minutes later...Its really hot, maybe I shouldn't have worn a sweatshirt after all. There are two kids playing and one of them is biking. I waved at them and they turned their backs to me. Why is my neighborhood so unfriendly?


Cars = wavess :)


YAY the sun is out...finally! I officially just unbroke my broken rule. :)


Time for some hellos!




Hogan & 135th! No waves. No hellos :(


G-Sale anyone?


135th & Thompson.


I waved at 11 people, a few smiled back. A lot of cars are driving by. Oh look, isn't that my ex roommates sister? Weird. I can still hear birds chirping! Shirtless man just jogged by me and he completely ignored my hello. A man and a little girl on his shoulder said hi back :)


They definitely waved back at me!





Yay findley elementary. It's really surprising no one was at the playground. It was Only one car at the parking lot! The first time I didn't see that many people there. It's getting hotter and the wind is getting stronger. I hear leaves rustling and kids talking. There is an older couple walking down the path I'm going to go down.



Cracks & More Cracks.


If you look closely you can see the older couple on the far right. They were doing very inappropriate things.


Anthrax!



Cracks, Cracks and More Cracks. I'm officially sweating. Ew, the couple are getting worse and worse! I have a headache. I said hello to two boys riding their bikes, they both said hello back. It's because they're brown also :)





I know who this felix is! We went to school together.


Chalk drawings :) I can hear a near by households AC! Lucky them!


The walk is almost over :(


Ending Point. Last picture. See you Later Findley!

POST WALK
Apart from my unfriendly neighborhood, this walk actually made me really happy. This is why I named is "My Happy Walk". I think everyone should take out an hour in their day and walk somewhere by themselves everyday. I thought about lots of things like how my sophomore at OSU will be next year, where my relationship with my boyfriend is going, how I feel about my best friends at the moment, what I should work on to be a better person, my strict parents, turning 19th next week and much more. It truly accomplished it's goal as being a stress free and personal walk.