The title of this journal is from Thoreau’s Walking. Walking, both Thoreau’s essay and the act itself, is close my heart and I'm often frustrated by city planners and property owners who don’t make provisions for the pedestrians. I have been in towns where it is almost impossible to walk anywhere because of the way the streets have been planned. I would hazard to guess that more than foreign policy or refining capacity the biggest factor contributing to our current energy crisis (and health crisis) is poor city planning—an overlooked field where a person can still heroically change the world.

Today google made a small step to help us faint hearted crusaders by adding walking directions to google maps. The driving route from my house into town, a 2.2 mile trek down a large, busy street, is now a 1.8 mile saunter through the neighborhood.