Walk And Walk Some More

This morning I went for a run on the Oxford Canal walk.  This footpath follows the channel of water from the Hythe Bridge in one direction at least three miles (I got that far before I turned to run back.).  The map shows that it also goes the other direction, which I will probably venture out on Saturday.

It is a picturesque route that goes through all sorts of terrain.  Even though Oxford is very much the city, it does not take long to leave it behind and experience rural England.  The path, so well maintained, is a reminder that the English have a thing for walking.  In fact, there are special provisions that keep walking routes open through private lands.

Without a car, I  have been seeing a lot of Oxford by foot both urban and rural, and it is a totally different way to experience a place.  A car encourages point to point speed based transportation.  You get in at your starting point and don't set foot on the ground until you arrive at your destination.  On foot, there is plenty of time to stop, look around, or be enticed by some unexpected corner.

I always wondered at all the hiking that is described in Tolkien's works.  Maybe I am beginning to understand why these journeys are so important to the stories.  For long periods of time, the characters are merely walking with no real action at all.  And that is the beauty of the stories as Tolkien takes the time to describe the world around:  its trees and flowers, weather, phases of the moon, winds--none of which seem to matter to the story--but all of which matter to the characters in the story and to us.

Tolkien himself did not have much use for a car and in his later years refused to own one.  He saw them as a part of the mechanizing industrial evil that was blighting his beloved countryside.

Aside from the all too present ecological damage that cars can do (smog, noise, and oil spills anyone), they also steal a bit of the wonder of the world.  Journey's become secondary to destinations. Community is diminished as time out of one's house is spent in an encapsulated space where the only conversation that can be had is with others in the car.  We sit in traffic jams, together alone.

I know there are practical reasons why most of America is not amenable to walking.  But I wonder if we walked a little more if the magic of the world might be renewed, and we might catch glimpses of elves and hobbits or at the very least each other.