As a Portlander, I strive to be as green as possible. And, for the most part, I think I do OK. Not great, but OK. GTB and I carpool to work as often as possible (which is usually at least three times a week). We only drink out of reuseable water bottles. We recycle way more than we throw away. I carry reuseable grocery bags. I buy as much local meat and produce as possible.

That said, I’m pretty sure this event is going to annoy me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of living in a walkable neighborhood. And I’m a sucker for pretty much any community event. But this sweet little idea is going to suck for me for a couple of reasons:

-I don’t ride bikes. This isn’t just a pregnant thing. I have no balance. I’ve broken my nose at least once riding a bike. Last time I rode a bike, I lost control and drove over the side of a dike and into the Columbia River. Me and bikes, we don’t get along.

-Walking pretty much anywhere for more than 10 minutes gives me almost unbearable round ligament pain. Even on the treadmill, in gym clothes and running shoes. So you can imagine my enthusiasm at the idea of walking to New Seasons and back with full grocery bags on one end of that journey. All the while trying to look cute, i.e. not wearing running shoes, because this is a community event. And people might see me.

-I have shit to do on Sunday. Most importantly, I have a pedi appointment and a haircut. Only one of them requires I pass through the no-cars zone, but I’m still convinced people are going to be in my way. And you just don’t get in the way of a pregnant woman in need of a little beauty and pampering. Especially when her last haircut was over two months ago and she can no longer reach, let alone paint, her own toes.

I embrace this idea of Sunday Parkways, I really do. But I’d like it a whole lot more if they were doing it in Southeast Portland.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 10:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.