Childhood rambles

This article appeared today in the Health section of the Washington Post. Made me smile remembering how we were allowed to roam around our neighborhood without too much interference. I don't think I ever went too far, maybe a half a mile from home at most, but it probably would have been OK if I'd gone farther. I don't remember being asked about my wanderings -- maybe I was asked where I went, and it was never a big deal.

I was just in Brussels for 10 days; on Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 14-15) I wandered around a bit, and decided to try different streets just for the hell of it, just to see where they would go. It made me think about how my father used to do that too, sometimes, when he was driving long distances -- just take another route to see what it would be like.

Related: One thing I despise since the rise of the GPS is people's absolute dependence on the little suckers. They can be super helpful, certainly, but there comes a point where it is ridiculous to get advice about going five blocks. Also, it seems GPS devices keep pinging my address as being on the street perpendicular to my house, so rideshare and taxi drivers always STOP THERE -- the WRONG street -- rather than continuing the ACTUAL address. It kills me. People trust those little machines rather than their own eyes. I have said to drivers before: "You were given my address, yes? So why did you stop on the street that is NOT my address?"

Richland-West End Avenue neighborhood, probably Central Avenue; photo from Nashville Scene

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