Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Cup of Refreshing Stumptown Coffee
Currently Reading: Mumford: A Life by Donald Miller
The beauty of owning a dog is that once or twice a day you get to turn your mind off and walk that dog around your neighbourhood. Sometimes depending on the weather you can walk for up to three hours, especially if you own an English Setter that has no end to energy. This morning was just one of those instances primarily because it is sunny and 70…Quite a rarity in October in Portland.
Thanks to an article in Dwell, I picked up a biography on Lewis Mumford, an architecture and literary critic, sociologist, and urban planning critic, which has inspired me to take longer “constitutionals” on my days off through my local neighbourhoods. What better way to do this than with my best friend in walking, The White Wonder. We get up and head to the coffee house for a bit of coffee and some reading. And then after I am satisfied with my morning, we head off into one of the nearby neighbourhoods for a long stroll.
Today we went into the Mt. Tabor/Hawthorne area and just kind of meandered. I peered at the architecture, got the ‘hood’s “feel,” and just marveled at the stamina of The White Wonder. The best way to get to know your city, your home, is to walk through and study it. This has been a project too long in coming. I loved walking through Riverwest and the Lower East Side in Milwaukee. I did not get to do it too much in Chicago because it is far too large and it would take forever to get to some of the neighbourhoods. Plus I did not have a dog.
I now have a new found love for the city I live. It took 7 long years but I have accomplished it none the less. And now that I have aching dogs from wearing the wrong shoes, I need a beer. Go on and get out for a short walk in the area you live. If anything it will reduce your stress and you can turn off your mind without turning on the television.
Prost!
the confucian brewer