Superman versus Batman

Here’s the thing about walking to work, you never know what you’re going to see or happen upon, which is why I always have a digital camera at the ready. So, on my walk to work this morning in Halifax I happened to walk by a store that had Superman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman) and Batman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman) signs in the window. (I never usually take this street, but for some reason I did this morning.) This got me to thinking: If there was a battle between Superman and Batman – assuming both were kicked out of the Hall of Justice, which served as the headquarters of the Super Friends team, for unpaid membership dues – who would win?

I agreed with myself that while it would also make for an interesting film, it would not make an Oscar worthy film and would probably go direct to video. Sure, they’ve tried such things in the past; Predator and Alien comes to mind. Right, so back to what I was thinking on my walk. Why not Superman versus Batman?Then I thought it wouldn’t really be a fair fight because Superman has super human strength and flying abilities, while Batman has nada, zilch, nothing, no extraordinary superpowers to speak of. So before I knew it I had passed 15 minutes of my day getting some walking in and taking some pictures all the while not even realizing it.

And then, there I was at the corner, walking sign beckoning me to cross the street. But noticing the green light, I got to thinking again: Superman versus Hulk, who would win?

Well, who would have thought -10 degrees Celsius was warm? Only those of us who have been fighting wind chills of -29. It is indeed a challenge to stay motivated. I don’t have the coordinating hats that some of my friends do. In fact you’d see a decided grandkid influence in my wardrobe. The warmest mittens paired with the biggest scarf, wrapped around my old purple down jacket…and so on. The other thing we can take from the grandkids is the sheer joy of the day. One of my little darlings actually complained that there was sand down on the ice in the driveway. It ruined her ability to go skating! So she had to go over to the tobogganing hill. And there’s a great way to get some steps in…hauling the sled up the hill! And the view I see from the top of the hill is this:

And I must confess that I actually regretted having to go to work today because I was missing some great snowshoeing with the snow shoe group led by Micheline out at Ski Ben Eoin. From memory, I can guarantee the view from the top is spectacular. On a clear day ( today) you’d be able to see all the way down the Bras D’or Lakes. But next Wed am at 10am I'll be there with bells on...or at least my snow shoes.

Accessories turned necessities

The one joy I would take from the winter season is the knowledge that I could coordinate my mitts, scarf and hat with my winter outerwear. Now, do not confuse my love of winter wears with the need for fashion as I have a number of winter woollies I'm not afraid to pull out should the temperature tempt me.

However, despite my general appreciation turned adoration for mitts, hats and scarves, I feel that mother nature is robbing me of this joy.

"How?" you may ask, given that the current temperatures are a playground for such winter wear. Simple. The choice has now been taken away from me. With the FRIGID weather, one can no longer take pleasure in finding the best ensemble to match the coat or opting not to wear all three pieces because you "can't find the matching mitten". Oh no, now it's about survival of the fittest - it's about keeping those appendages warm.

This morning was a cold, bitter walk - wind at my face, rosy cheeks, and a runny nose to boot. There was no sight-seeing or smelling of the proverbial rose this morning. Even the warmest of fabrics can't compensate for the fact that it's cold when you walk!

Now, I could allow this weather to weaken my mood, or - worse - deter me from walking to work (I don't believe there's a call in "cold" day). The reality is we live in Nova Scotia, and it gets cold in the winter (yet somehow we are shocked when this happens?!). Now, such face-blistering weather can make for cranky walks or even provide the perfect excuse for abandoning the outdoor excursion all together. Or, such situations can provide the perfect opportunity to invest in a very warm and hip collection of mitts and hats.

I'm going with the later.

Our blogging ideas

We want this to be an open community to discuss walking stories, challenges, issues, etc. Mostly we want it to be a place to connect and chat and to share some of the experiences we call life.

We will grow and evolve together, however we thought it would be helpful to set some parameters for our blogging:

More is more- We've set up this blog to purposely allow for more than one blogger. We all have our own experiences and perspectives about walking and walking creates different meaning for all of us! This blog allows us to access different perspectives - from walker turned runner to walking advocate and more. We will have a different blogger for each day Monday-Friday. You can learn more about the different team members by checking out the contributor section.

Let us know! - We want to hear your feedback. We want posts and responses related to the topic of walking. However, posts that are unrelated to this topic or that use inappropriate language will be removed.

Our content - Our blogging team includes individuals who work on the Heart&Stroke Walkabout project. However, we're blogging because we're interested in sharing our experiences and want to learn about other people's experiences. The views of the blog are our views, and while they may share information about the program, they do not represent the views of the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the supporters and sponsors of Walkabout.

That's all for now.

Welcome!

We're Jolene, Melinda, Claire and other walking friends. Heart&Stroke Walkabout is a provincewide initiative of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia focused on building a walking culture in Nova Scotia. We started this blog because, in addition to working on this project, we're simply passionate about walking. Well, Jolene is more passionate about running, but that's another story.

The point is, we want to talk about some of the places walking takes us - less about the exercise (although that's important) and more about the places, people and interesting situations we observe along the way. We're also passionate about walking issues and accessibility and want to use this blog to talk about them. And we want to hear from you. Share your images - a great place you walk, who you walk with (is it a friend, a pet or are you flying solo?) - and your thoughts with us.

Let's see where walking takes us. And so the journey begins.