Taking a Walk on the Not-So-Wild Side
COVID-19 has put a crimp on many of our lifestyles as we try to prevent infection from a virus that has killed more than 515,000 Americans, larger than the population of Mesa, Ariz.
Many of us avoid crowds and wear masks--even outdoors. A retired nurse who is my age said she won’t meet me or anyone else for lunch. She said her lung capacity is at 60% and was diagnosed with asthma, a debilitating disease I did not overcome until in my 40s. She fears COVID could kill her. She reduces public contact to going shopping and medical appointments. I was at a supermarket a few days ago when a woman with two children in tow said it was the first day she went grocery shopping in a year; she apparently had avoiding shopping in person by ordering pickup service.
Public health and government officials have advised us to maintain social distancing, but they also realize being cooped indoors can have deleterious effects. They have recommended outdoor exercise, such as walking, jogging and bicycling.
The Mayo Clinic put it this way: “The COVID-19 virus is primarily spread from person to person among those in close contact, within about 6 feet (2 meters). The virus spreads through respiratory droplets released into the air when talking, coughing, speaking, breathing or sneezing. In some situations, especially in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation, the COVID-19 virus can spread when a person is exposed to small droplets or aerosols that stay in the air for minutes to hours.
“When you're outside, fresh air is constantly moving, dispersing these droplets. So you're less likely to breathe in enough of the respiratory droplets containing the virus that causes COVID-19 to become infected. But be sure to wear a mask when you can't maintain distance from others.
“Being outside offers other benefits, too. It offers an emotional boost and can help you feel less tense, stressed, angry or depressed. And sunlight can give your body vitamin D, too.”
I fully agree. Walking has been my main exercise for the past three decades. I have been fortunate to live in communities with paved walking paths through downtowns and other developed areas and hiking trails in nearby open deserts and woods.
Taking a walk on the not-so-wild side has been a good social activity, especially now with continuing restrictions on public gatherings. Besides exercising, trail users take an interest in nature, pointing out and taking photos of deer in the distance. I’ve seen snakes—possibly even poisonous ones such as water moccasins ---and turtles – on the Paul G. Boorman Trail in Longview, Texas. Sadly, two harmless snakes got caught in a chain-link fence in St. George, Utah, and their bodies quickly rotted.
I regularly walked the popular Boorman Trail through the Piney Woods when I lived in Longview, from 2016 to 2020. I shared the five-mile stretch of paved path with other walkers, joggers and bicyclists. I met an eclectic mix: young, middle age and old; college students and retirees; black, white and Asian; straight and gay; evangelical Christians, Hindus and Muslims; immigrants and American born; Democrats; Trumpers and flat earthers. I usually walked on the trail before going to work.
As a former newspaper reporter, I’ve learned how to approach strangers. It is a lot easier doing so on a trail than at other venues, such as bars. A few years ago, I struck up a conversation with a man who wore a T-shirt with the message “Legalize Reason.” I knew who Hank was before I met him, and we became friends.
When I was new to Longview, a single mom who jogged while pushing a stroller caught my eye. “Let’s have coffee,” she said as she ran in the opposite direction. I confirmed that she worked in accounting on film productions. She gave me her phone number, but I recall reaching her only once while the other times my calls went to voicemail. Elida had eluded me and we never met for coffee.
I met other regulars on the trail, and some of them soon found out what I did for a living. I came to refer to one man with dark hair and a beard in his late 60s as “St. Tommy” because each day he wore T-shirts with a Jesus message, including one that read “Let’s Taco About Jesus.”
On one morning St. Tommy told another man where I worked. The tall, gaunt older man then complained about a newspaper editorial cartoon that criticized Joe Arpaio, known to admirers as “the world’s toughest sheriff.” The other man pronounced his name “Air Wrap a Ho.”
I burst out, “You are full of it. First of all, his name is pronounced ‘R Py O.’ I used to live in Arizona. He abused his power.”
Since then, the man never raised his voice at me, and quietly greeted me when he walked by. I mentioned the exchange to St. Tommy, who said politics turned him off. Then, I lost touch with St. Tommy. He told me he woke up one morning while his wife did not. Newly widowed, St. Tommy left town, perhaps returning to Toole, Utah.
Another man, who has the same first name as I, was not as reserved as St. Tommy’s friend. Referring to former President Donald Trump, Ken said, “He is going to build the wall.” Ken also said Barack Obama was elected president “only because he is black.” He got easily agitated, so I avoided conversations with him since then.
I met a soft-spoken man named Paul who combined conservative politics with religious beliefs. He said Trump was a “crooked businessman” while disliking Hillary Clinton because of the State Department’s handling of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. I later met his former wife, who introduced me to her adopted daughters. One of the women was looking for a job, and I tried to help by taking down her number to give her job leads. Unlike Elida, she picked up the phone. She found a job on her own, working for a company that delivered restaurant
orders to homes and offices.
I did not bump into her for a while, so I did not recognize her when she showed up at a downtown bar as a bleached blonde in a sexy outfit that emphasized her assets. She told me she traveled to Las Vegas to work as an exotic dancer at a gentleman’s club. Her former boyfriend, a nice guy, later told me she commanded $500 a day as a date to older, wealthier men.
The young lady took a walk on wild side. By contrast, I keep walking on the less-than-wild side.