Alternatives to Previous Norms

It's strange when you begin to realize that you can do without the things that you previously thought you could not.

My car is an example. I was willing to give it up because my desire to live in New York City far outweighed my desire to drive, but there was a time in North Carolina when I couldn't picture myself without a vehicle. Now it's hard to imagine having one.

And today, I did without the subway. I walked to work this morning from my boss's apartment in the East Village - roughly 20 blocks south and six or seven avenues east of the office - or about a mile and a half. The morning walk felt so great that I decided to walk back to my boss's place after my evening cardio kickboxing class at the gym.

The walk is approximately 30 minutes each way. Ironically that's about how long it takes me to catch an 8th Avenue-bound L at First and 18th, transfer to an uptown 4, 5 or 6 at Union Square, and walk to the office from Grand Central. Waiting for trains and crowded subway platforms and passageways are the presumable explanation.

Doing without the subway is purely a matter of circumstance. One probably wouldn't walk all the way to an office in the Financial District from Inwood everyday, but cat-sitting in the East Village for the past week and a half - within a mile or two of the office - has created a compatible alternative.

I think I'll walk to work again tomorrow.