Design your Diet
A Can in the Graveyard
A Purpose for Walking.
(I'm continuing my break from talking directly about food,
because I am about to spend some serious time on exercise.
So first, another, longer look at Walking.)
Just a reminder that this diet blog is unusual because it is not ALL about eating. We are trying to follow the six-word description mentioned in episode 6, Move more-Eat less-Will power. Walking should be taking care of the Move more part of the 'diet' and if you are not walking, you probably won't succeed. Walking is more than just physical exercise as mentioned in episode 3. I first walked casually, just enjoying what I saw, but then an everyday event interfered with that, as you will see. This bit is not about eating, it's about moving- more.
The playwright Alan Bennet wrote a story which appeared on TV, A Chip in the Sugar in which a mother and son went into a bright, modern café for refreshment. Previously, they had always used a more traditional café. The mother was impressed with the newness, but the son noticed that the sugar container on their table had a chip in it. The son was disturbed by this. Its significance was far reaching. It spoke of standards. What did it say of the cafe? What did it say about the customers? It was a simple observation, yet with complex meanings.
My morning walks included the paths winding around the old graveyard where, as the seasons passed, purple carpets of crocuses were replaced with posies of primroses dotted in yellow random around the greenery. Twenty or more species of mature trees and bushes provided homes for rock doves, squirrels and sometimes small deer. One day, beside the path there was a bright red, soft-drink can. My contentment was disturbed by this. It spoke of casual disregard, spoke of thoughtlessness. I must borrow - A Can in the Graveyard, from Alan Bennet for I have nothing to declare, but his genius.
Why?
Why do people do this? The naturalness of the overgrown graveyard was unappreciated by the can’s temporary user; they couldn’t see what I saw. It spoke of responsibility, or lack of it. As the can was there, whose responsibility was it now? I walked on. Two days later it was still there. It spoiled my walk. It became my responsibility. I collected it and put it in the litter bin near the entrance. Now I could relax and enjoy the tranquillity again.
Litter
It raised my awareness of litter and the way that it spoils the world we see. Cans, bottles, sweet wrappers, food containers, cigarette packets became more visible to me. Previously I had not really seen them. They drew my attention. It was hard not to see fluorescent green plastic bottles in the gutter. I put them in litter bins which I discovered were strategically placed around my walks.
Whilst I despaired of the droppers of litter, I did notice that once an area was cleared of what I called ‘Historic litter’, it tended to remain almost clear. The same litter appeared in the same places regularly. The chocolate bar eater, the can drinker or the cigarette roller tossed their rubbish away in almost their same places each time. One new source of litter was face masks, but there were other items of interest: unopened cans or bottles of drink, clothes and money, usually cash but rarely, notes, probably dropped in the dark. 'American-logo' drinking cups with their straw-pierced plastic lids feature strongly. Take-away food packaging especially sauce packs and polystyrene containers with their plastic or wooden cutlery usually congregated close to park benches. Dog owners collected their mess, but some, then amazingly, didn’t use the specialised bins, but tossed their bags on verges, or in hedges. This is criminal. The droppings are degradable, but discarding them in plastic wrappers defeats all logic.
The Good News
I came to know that litter bins were emptied early morning Mondays and I was encouraged to see that by that time, they were almost always full. This meant that the vast majority of people used the bins. There was much more rubbish in the bins than was scattered about the streets and parks. This was very heartening.
I was not alone in collecting. I saw three of four other people, sometimes equipped with triggered, collecting sticks taking their daily walks. They were always older people who had the time and felt the responsibility. I was equipped with dedicated gardening gloves and plastic bags. It became rewarding to find plastic bottles or cans and even disappointing not to find something interesting. My strangest find was a tortoise – out for its morning exercise. I did get it back to its owner.
A purpose for walking
Collecting gave an additional purpose to walking and would sometimes influence the route for the day as I walked from bin to bin. This is my reason for raising the issue. Wandering as an exercise can seem to have little purpose. If you need, or can find a purpose, the additional reasons for your walking will bring you added appreciation.
Memories
Walking allows you to be reflective.
Walking took me back to my younger days when I had a paper round. Morning and evening in blazing sun or pouring rain, in the dark of Winter or the deepest snow, I had to be out there delivering. There was the milkman or the postman or me, striding down empty streets. I didn’t know it at the time, but when I arrived at school, I was fully awake when all around me were bleary-eyed. It made me fit and I had sorted out my plan-for-the-day.
Mental space
I saw the sunrise, the mist in the morning, I heard the traffic-bustle of the rush to work or the evening return. The working people, the snatched conversations, the streetlamps reflected from wet pavements were some my recollections of my place within this active world. I had a purpose, a reason to be there, but my mind was free to see and hear and think beyond my immediate role. Walking provided a mental space in the day that was mine and it still can do this, not only for me, but for you too.
Being here
I started my diet-walking to exercise, to Move more, but discovered something that I had not fully realised. Walking, looking, thinking with purpose, can refresh the mind and bring an appreciation of being here, being you, being now. It is the world around you - and you just have to see it. A red can in a green graveyard helped me to see it. I sat on a beach recently feeling the breeze, looking at sun, waves and sand, hearing seagulls, but also seeing a good proportion of people sitting there, endlessly finger-surfing mobile phones and possibly - not actually there at all. This kind of 'mindfulness', which is a current buzz-word, probably means switching off your mobile phone for a while.
Walking can be life-changing.
‘Litter’ should really mean leaf-litter, liberally scattered with pine cones, acorns or berries. Food on the ground should be for the birds, squirrels, moles or worms, not discarded chips in wrapping. When I walk clean streets and parks, I can appreciate such thoughts and hope that others do too. What about you? 'Can' you find a purpose for walking?
