Through the Seasons

Now I Remember

I went for a walk today and remembered why I don’t leave the house.  Seriously.  It’s just easier.

The goal of my walk.  (Yes, I need a goal for everything.  It makes me happy.)  My goal was to get exercise.  My motivation to actually go out was my need for fruits and vegetables.  I put Asher on my back and off we went.

I got to our neighbor’s house.  That’s right.  That’s as far as I got before getting stopped.  I saw them outside and planned to wave and keep walking.  Gah.  You’d think we’re not in America or something!  I waved, said hello, and realized very quickly that I wasn’t going to get off that easily.  Doh!

They kept inviting me in.  So my new plan was to just go into the yard but not the house – and to leave as soon as possible.  The man, also our guard, asked me what I was doing.  I told him I just wanted to get out and walk and go buy some vegetables.  He took my bag from me (I took one with me because these little neighborhood stores don’t usually give you bags) and said he’d go get the vegetables for me.

No, no.  “I need some exercise,” I say.  “I want to get outside for a bit,” I tell him.  He and his wife laughed and repeated what I said.  Um.  Okay.  So can I go now?  Apparently not.  Still holding my bag they asked me to at least come inside then go get my vegetables.  Well I see no way around this and I don’t really mind all that much (I don’t guess) so I go in.  They take me to the living room and they sit down.  I am standing.  Can we just say, “awkward!”  They tell me to sit (multiple times actually).  Asher is on my back and I’m hoping he’ll give me an out but they are so insistent that I finally comply.  But when I spin Asher around from my back to my side the woman takes him from me.  Ugh.  Okay then.  But then their oldest girl comes in to get Asher and of course the mother hands him to her.  She puts him on her back and walks out.  Man.  I looked at some pictures she had in a photo album (she was particularly proud of one that showed her talking on the phone) then told her I really needed to go.  But before I left the man came back in trying to do my shopping for me again.  I politely declined and stood up to go. 

Thankfully they didn’t have any food or tea to offer.  They felt bad about this and kept apologizing but I kept saying that I didn’t need anything which was completely true.  I don’t need to injest anything to burn off on my walk. 

I start walking out and she asks, “Are you going by yourself or with the baby?”  I said, “I’m going with the baby.”  Her daughter said, “Leave him here.”  I said, “No.  I’m going with the baby.”  !!!  Finally.  Off I go.  Whew.  A little delay but not too bad, right?

I get to my little (for ease of conversation we’ll call it a store).  I get my vegetables then ask for a soda for Jonathan.  She doesn’t have any.  That’s okay.  There’s another little store next door.  I go there.  Oops.  Guess who’s there!?  The man (our guard).  So he takes Asher from me to “help” me.  Then he walks back with me a totally different way than I want to go and he carries Asher the whole time.  (I kind of felt good about myself walking around with 30 pounds on my back – a bit of extra effort involved.) 

They just don’t really get the whole “I want to get out and walk around” thing.  I mean if they owned cars they’d drive everywhere (kind of like most of us actually).  At one point in my walk before I got to the first store on my route I thought, “This totally stinks.”  I loved it as my exercise but to have to walk everywhere no matter the temperature or weather or roads.  Gah.

But my exercise just can’t go like this.  First of all the sun was still too strong (even though it was 4pm).  We’re close to the equator and I don’t want either of us to get burnt.  But most of all I need to get out and get moving.  All that stopping and starting and getting help isn’t what I need.  It was sweet, I admit but from now on I think I’ll go out the other way. 

Of course I could also get a treadmill.  Anyone up for sending that to me, karibu sana!