Wednesday was an almost perfect snow day. Schools were cancelled because the half a foot of snow forecasted to fall was to be followed by copious amounts of freezing rain and it was to all be at its worst after noon, when school children would be returning home even if superintendents tried to squeeze in a “half day”. So LuLu and I had nothing but a little overcast to deal with as we ambled over to the museums for a little fun.
The Amazing World of Dr Seuss museum has been so popular that even members, who get unlimited entry into the other 4 museums get only tickets for entry at a particular hour. On this day it wasn’t needed but the procedure was followed in any case. There were only 10 or 15 other visitors there so we had the run of the place. We pushed all the buttons, played all the games, LuLu read me Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are, and we headed down to the “Arts and Crap” (Not its real name) area. They had a scavenger hunt for kids to look for details in the exhibits and murals so we ran through the entire museum again. By the time we dropped off the clipboard and LuLu claimed her prize it had gotten a bit messy outside weather wise and, as we were exiting the crafts room the museum educator offered me a very thoughtful “Drive safely”!
We exited the Dr Seuss museum and the security guard also recommended we “drive safely”, though we were headed to the science museum and the gift shop…read “Toy and Book Store”…on the same campus, on foot. But how was he to know that? We wandered in to the gift shop and we heard that there were rumblings regarding the possibility of the museums closing early: 2 o’clock. It was getting messy out, very few people were going to brave the elements in their cars for a visit to the museums, and all of the school visits were no doubt postponed.
We hurried up to the rotating program space which housed a really fun interactive exhibit on prosthetic devices. We didn’t have time to see and do everything, but there was no one else in the entire space. Security came in to remind us that the museum was closing early: “Drive safely”.
We took the hint. We walked toward the library, though I wondered if the library was open given the conditions, but I knew that even if the library were closed we could slip out the gate at the southwest corner of the Quadrangle. As I suspected the library was closed, but the gate was also closed and locked. I asked Lu if we should go back and walk all the way around, or jump the fence: we jumped the fence.
She said she had never felt more like she belonged in Dauntless than she did right then! Cool.
We headed to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. As we exited the Caring Health Center the guard offered a polite “Drive safely”. We were both famished, esurient, hungry-like, so I gave LuLu the option of getting “arroz con gandules” at Raices, something from the deli at Milano’s, Frigo’s, La Fiorentina, or Mom and Rico’s, or chicken biryani (for her) at City Pizza (my preference for their chicken gyro…which is amazing, the pizza…meh). She chose Red Rose. Yes, not one of the options I offered because I was thinking more “grab and go”.
Were we in a hurry though? Not really. Ok, Red Rose.
We had a great lunch, I had chicken parmigiana, she had chicken francaise, and we both upgraded to the house salad…a must btw. “Drive safely!”our waitress offered as we put on our coats with a bag of leftovers for Liz.
Yup. 5 “Drive safelies”(sp?) and a locked gate. The gates to the parking area were open, that’s for sure. The Walkscore of the area we traversed ranges from the upper 80’s to the low 90’s: It’s as walkable a place as there is in the region. There are places to live, to eat, to work, and to shop with some great little parks and plazas dotted throughout. But the assumption is still that just about everyone doing anything, even on a day when the driving is treacherous but the walking is easy, will be doing what they’re doing using our societies #1 prosthetic device: the automobile.
It would be cool if someday, perhaps 10-20 years from now when I’m at the museum with a grandson or granddaughter, I hear someone say under similar circumstances; “Walk safely there grampa, it’s slippery out!”
That is the Springfield I knew as a child, walking everywhere. One thing I recall from a post you made last year though…”can not buy a potato” or words to that effect. Unless we convince Milano to sell potato’s. Heck, your only a block away. Even though Peapod would deliver said potato, my desire and I think yours too is to choose your own, from a bin of potato’s ( metaphor for all fresh produce) and put those into out bike basket to ride or walk home.
Once you notice the Driving Assumption, you can’t un-see it. I live in a northeastern city that has lost over half of its population since its peak in 1950. Thirty percent of households in the city do not own cars. Yet our broadcast media report only on driving conditions, assuming that 100% of their audience gets in a car every morning and uses expressways. They never report on walking conditions.
Thanks for walking me through your fun day. These kinds of posts embolden me to write and say, as a city council person, that the city should not be burdened with the car storage needs of everyone during the day. It’s not a right, not even smart. People look at me with utter confusion, but I say it anyway.