I Walk Wherever My Errands Take Me.

For [jane Austen And The Readers Of Pride And Prejudice], As For Mr. Darcy, [elizabeth Bennett's] Solitary Walks Express The Independence That Literally Takes The Heroine Out Of The Social Sphere Of The Houses And Their Inhabitants, Into A Larger, Lonelier World Where She Is Free To Think: Walking Articulates Both Physical And Mental Freedom.

If Gold Has Been Prized Because It Is The Most Inert Element, Changeless And Incorruptible, Water Is Prized For The Opposite Reason -- Its Fluidity, Mobility, Changeability That Make It A Necessity And A Metaphor For Life Itself. To Value Gold Over Water Is To Value Economy Over Ecology, That Which Can Be Locked Up Over That Which Connects All Things.

In The Aftermath Of 9/11, People Had Not A Good Time, But A Deep, Profound, Rousing Time, Woke Up From Their Ennui And Isolation And Trivialization To Feel Engaged, Connected, Purposeful, Ready To Give, To Engage, To Care, To Learn.

The Famous Zen Parable About The Master For Whom, Before His Studies, Mountains Were Only Mountains, But During His Studies Mountains Were No Longer Mountains, And Afterward Mountains Were Again Mountains Could Be Interpreted As An Alleory About [the Perpetual Paradox That When One Is Closest To A Destination One Is Also The Farthest).

Perhaps Walking Is Best Imagined As An 'indicator Species,' To Use An Ecologist's Term. An Indicator Species Signifies The Health Of An Ecosystem, And Its Endangerment Or Diminishment Can Be An Early Warning Sign Of Systemic Trouble. Walking Is An Indicator Species For Various Kinds Of Freedom And Pleasures: Free Time, Free And Alluring Space, And Unhindered Bodies.