Walking Week 6

Walking Notes:

6:32 p.m

I choose to sit down at a crossroad near the park and observe from there. As I was observing, I saw a man ride bike. He had a red reflective jacket, a light on his bike to signal that he is incoming, a red helmet to match with his jacket, had no bell, and passed by me twice. This could mean he was doing laps around the corner.

6:47 p.m

There was a lady waiting for the bus stop near the library. From what I could see she was a distance away from me, on the the other side of the park and crossroad. As she was patiently waiting she as scrolling through her phone and had a backpack on her. She seemed to be coming back from the library, maybe finished up some homework, and was ready to go back home.

6:50

Some art I saw was on the library front side. There were post it notes in a star shaped pattern, and drawings from other little children. The library seemed to be open but there was a moderate amount of people inside.

7:10

As I focused on my surroundings, the place I sat near by was very quiet. All you could hear was cars passing by and the occasional bus. When people got off the bus, which only happened once out of three times, the person was alone walking to their destination. There weren’t many people who passed by, but there was what seemed to be a mother and daughter who managed themselves carrying their groceries but had no dialogue between them.

(Sorry if the images are to blurry, it looks fine through my phone and I can send them to you through email, but when I paste them here they cant turn horizontally. I don’t know how to fix this or if it’s my phones fault.)

Reading Response:

Drawing on the readings, why is it important for people — including walkers — to think of themselves as citizens? What is the relationship between walking, citizenship, and public space?

Walkers and people should think of themselves as citizens because they have the ability to be able to think freely of who they are. They walk the same path as many people and choose their outcome. Where they go is up to them and what they choose to do is abide the rules. Identifying as a citizen is much more than living in a secured area, it is living with the intention of wanting to be free, to live free and walk free. With an open mind, citizens can think of what they want in their life and walkers think to open a new possibility to other worlds. The relationship between walking, citizenship, and public space is freedom. The freedom to do what you want and what you need. Having public space is a freedom to yourself. It allows you to have air to breathe and not let anyone get close to you and possibly hurt you if that scenario came up. Walking is the freedom of letting your mind be free of its thoughts, allowing it to think of a new opening in life. And citizenship is freedom of being alive, you have the rights to live and choose an action to make, the right to be you. (209)