The Walking Reading Woman

I just saw her - the walking reading woman, I call her. She lives in my neighborhood, and for the past almost 30 years I've paid little attention to her eccentricities. I've been too busy raising kids, tending to the dog, doctors appointments, homework, fencing practice, dances lessons. The drill. But now that the kids are grown, I see things in my environment more closely, with a keener eye. And so when I spied her this morning: her hair roped into a single, think braid, with one hand holding a book out in front of her, reading intently as she walked at a brisk pace, I felt compelled to record the moment.

I've often heard of people who do mental activities better when they are in motion. The eminent late physicist Richard Feynman used to say riding a bike helped me to figure out complex problems. Einstein always wondered why he got his best ideas while shaving. And Steven Spielberg has said that inspiration comes to him when he is driving on the freeways of Los Angeles. 

So movement enhances thinking. My son used to fiddle with things while solving math problems. When I finally realized this was actually helping him, I refrained from telling him to stop fidgeting. 

I don't know how she manages to avoid tripping while walking and reading at the same time. As for me, I've got some work to do in this moving and thinking activity - first I have to perfect the art of walking of chewing gum :))