By: Blonde Two
For the last month or so Mr B2 and I have been a one car (or one van) family. When we first sold our second vehicle, as part of the get-a-camper scheme, I thought we would argue. As it turns out we are quite good at sharing and maybe even cooperating. Having one car is, as it turns out, very good for us because if we both want to go somewhere one of us has to either walk (me) or cycle (him).
Walking to go somewhere is not the same thing at all as walking for the thrill of a summit or the challenge of a long hike but I am discovering that it can be just as rewarding and obviously just as good for you.
Take Saturday for instance. A friend and I needed to get from A to B, which would usually have involved a drive along the main road, a fiddle with the car park and a guilty feeling upon departure of the coffee (and cake) shop. Instead, because it was Mr B2’s turn to play with the camper, we walked along the main road.
I wasn’t even sure there was going to be a pavement and it was just as well there was because things could have got kind of messy if we had been walking up the (rather narrow) cycle lane. We chattered away as we walked, at the same time avoiding the patches of ice and observing a few things that, although I have driven along this stretch many times, I didn’t previously know were there. We found,
A forbidden woodland – very tempting but also muddy
A badger’s grave – complete with cross and epitaph
(I didn’t take a photo, it would have been rude)
We also found spring!
All very much worth seeing and I felt so virtuous with my unexpected exercise that I had soup instead of cake at the coffee shop!
‘Tis alright until you both need to get somewhere in a hurry – then it can get very frustrating. I wanted to do a ten mile journey by bus, arriving in town at 0945. To do it, I would have had to leave my home at 0800 and would still have had to do a 15 minute walk at the other end to get from the bus depot to my destination. Door to door, it is only 20 minutes by car. Must admit I like the new electronic bus stop signs that tell you exactly how late the bus is running, though. As for trains, they have long since priced themselves out of my reach except for emergencies.