Walk It Off

I love to walk. It's something I picked up from the [Paternal Unit], mostly because he likes to go on walks, and I am the only member of my family whose willing to go with him because unlike [SisterBot] I don't have a social life when I'm at home, and unlike [BrotherBorg] I do enjoy leaving the house on a regular basis. [Paternal Unit] is the reason that I've walked around all the of the lakes in Minneapolis and a good portion of those in St. Paul, and also the reason why I enjoy aimlessly walking. This summer, while in the grips of the restless ennui that the month of August engenders in me, I took to walking around Como Lake and the surrounding neighborhood whenever I couldn't stand to be in my house any longer. Walking calms me down when I'm upset and helps to syphon off some of the anxiety when I get tense. I think best on my feet, and it gives me an chance to sort out my thoughts.

Unfortunately, Como Park does not actually look this cool at night (via)

I was home for the holiday weekend, the first I've spent any amount of time at home since school started nearly three months ago. I couldn't stay still at home. I was restless, emotionally claustrophobic, and really damn anxious. I'm no stranger to anxiety; it crops up in my life from time to time due to a variety of things and every time we have a stormy spring, but it's usually linked to something specific, like severe weather or having to use a Bunsen burner, whereas the anxiety I've felt over the past couple of days is more general. It hasn't been really bad at any one time, it just seems closer to the surface than normal. Maybe I'm just more aware of it because I'm trying out this whole "being in touch with my emotions" thing, which is exhausting, by the way.

Anyways, it came to a head Friday night, and I just couldn't sit still any longer, so I left. I just went, and I ended up walking around Como Lake until my foot hurt and my knees ached, but I felt better. The lake is pretty at night and quite different than it is during the day when swarms of people are there. I ended up coming back to campus Saturday night due to the desire to actually be productive on Sunday as well as family stuff that meant that I wouldn't get back until the late afternoon on Sunday if I stayed at home for the night. Once again the restlessness and boredom reared their heads, and I ended up making a giant loop around the nearly empty campus. I ended up by the Institute for Child Development, which lead to the discovery of the walking/biking bridge across the river. I had seen it before from the 10th Ave. Bridge, but I didn't know where to access it, so it was a pleasant discovery.

I like it enough, that last night, after far too many hours at Walter Library (I really need to find a new place to study, eight hours in one day is unfortunate) I decided to go out of my way to use the walking bridge to cross the river in lieu of the Washington Ave Bridge. When I got across to the West Bank side, I noticed that if I took a right instead of the left that would take me back to my dorm, I would be in the small Bluff Street Park. There was a bike/pedestrian path that lead down out of site to the river. I decided to see where this path went, because I was enjoying the walk and I didn't want to go back to my dorm room and [Random Roommate #2] just yet.

The new 35W Bridge, for reference (via)

I ended up standing under the 10th Ave Bridge by the river. The 35W Bridge was lit up blue above me, framing a view of the river with the Stone Arch Bridge and what I think is the St. Anthony Fall Laboratory internally lit with soft, warm incandescence. The Gold Medal Flour sign blinked red from downtown, in sharp contrast to the cool blue of the bridge. It was beautiful in that way that only the city can be, and it was still, with only the occasional car on West River Road to disturb it. I felt really peaceful for the first time in a while, standing there, watching the lights and the river and the bridges. I could have stayed there all night, but after about ten minutes I managed to tear myself away and go home, mostly because my ears were getting cold. Right now, at least, it's probably my favorite spot in the city, and I'm tempted to go back during the day to look around a little bit, but for now, it's one of those places that seems to only really exist at night, all lit up with nobody watching.

Sidenote: I know some of you, imaginary readers, are currently yelling at me through the space-time vortex that is the internet because I shouldn't be walking around campus alone after dark. You do have a point, but I'm not going to listen to you, because I love it too much, as previously discussed here. I'm pretty careful, and if it comes down to it, I'm not afraid to pop someone's eyeballs. Also, I have fairly odd standards of physical safety. I'll be up half the night because of hypochondria fuelled anxiety due to a menstrual cramp (this happened last night) but I will gladly walk out into the middle of the street expecting cars to stop for me (I have the right of way, dammit!). So no, I will not call an escort to walk me across campus at nine at night, that would just ruin the effect. Just be happy I've stopped walking home at one in the morning.