These boots

I’m going to start with, “I’m not asking anyone for anything. So please, please don’t email/telephone/message me with offers of assistance, we’ve got lots. But thank you, from the bottom of my heart and the soles of my hiking boots.

I’m sure y’all have heard the expression about “walking a mile in someone else’s shoes”. You know the one I mean. You can’t possibly know what another person is dealing with until you “walk a mile in their shoes”. Lots of jokes follow that idiom, but my point is (and I do have a point) we never really know, or understand, another’s situation. In early December our vehicle, suddenly, needed some bodywork. Without getting into the W5 of how that situation came to be, LOML and I figured we’d have the Rollscan- hardly back before Christmas. Silly us. Apparently there is a massive COVID-19 inspired, supply chain problem affecting the replacement parts for the whole motor vehicle industry. So our beloved ride sits in a body shop yard awaiting the one or two parts it needs to make it road-worthy again. When the insurance company put an end to the rental vehicle situation, we literally started “walking the miles” in our own shoes. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot of lessons.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re fortunate to live in a rather small, close-knit community where we have great friends and family nearby if we do need a vehicle, or a ride, for almost any reason. We have had plenty of offers and several lifts when the idea of walking was a bit unseasonable/unreasonable and, perhaps, a bit far. After many moments of discussion, LOML and I decided we could try to manage without a car. And here we are, it’s half past March and we’re still walking. We walk to and from, the grocery store, the Farm Store, Printcraft, Canadian Tire, the Post Office, the dentist’s office, LifeLabs, the pharmacy—well, you name it. Essentially, if we have to be somewhere we walk to the destination. Personally, it never really occurred to me this is how a great number of County people get around, most of the time. Oh yeah, I know people who don’t have vehicles and get around walking, cycling or in a taxi. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen our “nearly neighbours” trudge along, their Little Tykes wagon loaded with groceries or laundry. It never crossed my mind how fortunate LOML and I really are to have a vehicle at our disposal until we didn’t have a vehicle at our disposal. If we wanted to, we could rent or lease a vehicle until our car is out of “broken jail”, but we’re giving a car-free life a whirl.

And, I still have a point. Walking changes your wants, needs, your health and your perspective. This morning I was adding things to our grocery list. LOML said, “Bleach. Don’t forget the bleach. Better get a big container I’m going to do all of the whites this week.” Hmmm. I looked in the pantry and saw we needed potatoes, too. My mind tells me the better deal is the ten-pound bag of taters. It looks as if it’s going to be a big grocery shop because we not only need bleach and potatoes but we need flour and apples. And by “big” I mean “we’ll be schlepping some big stuff home from the grocery store this week”. I buy flour in the big, big bag because I bake a lot. But without a vehicle at our immediate disposal, we’ve had to rethink that “big” list. These days we take smaller bites at the grocery list and/or are changing how we purchase our provisions. Today, I seriously considered buying a box of instant mashed potatoes (hey, potato chips are light), picking up a jar of apple sauce and skipping the bleach all together. Certainly the box of potato flakes (or a bag of potato chips, LOL) would be easier to transport than the ten-pound bag of spuds! Am I right? I am, of course. And, so this week LOML and I thought a lot about all of the other concessions, considerations, substitutions, sacrifices and decisions a person would make to get the groceries home if they didn’t have a car. The supply chain has changed our lives, maybe walking will balance out the choices we’re making.

I write this with great big thanks to our friends and family who have offered rides, given rides and so much more. Thank you to Neil, Donna, Paul, Tammy and Brent, Grace and Brian, and Suzanne. We are blessed to be surrounded by people who care.

Pay it forward, folks, and keep on walking!
theresa@wellingtontimes.ca