Monday, 17 May 2021: Breaking Loose
This is what I can see out my windows of the median strip between Park Town Place apartments and the Ben Franklin Parkway:
That street is Park Towne Place Road: I had not walked across it in fifteen months. Crossing it, even holding on to my trusty (hopefully trusty) rollator, was scary. I wasn't sure what I was scared of, but I quickly found out. Slopes, even mild slopes, are scary. To get to the Target or Whole Foods on my own, I'll have to negotiate a real hill. That's a challenge for another day.
This is what I saw that I had to conquer today:
I had come out a side door, mainly used trash disposal, moving large items in or out, etc., but...like everything at Park Towne Place...clean, neat, and useable. Before me was the main entrance to the building and beyond it, the median. I gritted my teeth and walked forward.
The Maja. I had seen it before, right after it was moved from the Art Museum to its new home across from my apartment complex. Then it disappeared for the winter while a great deal of work was done on the medium to transform it from this...
...to this:
I understand that Park Towne Place instigated moving the statue from among the many statues displayed around the Art Museum and paid for its transfer. I don't know whether the City of Philadelphia paid for the work done on the medium or whether Park Towne Place (PTP) supported the effort or whether PTP underwrote the whole move. If the latter, then that's another reason my rent is 30% higher than in any other apartment building on the Parkway. (PTP is also nicer in many other ways than any other apartment complex I toured.)
All the construction involved tore up much of the grass on the medium so, as you can see, leaving the paths is strongly...and attractively...discouraged.
I was unable to get a really good shot showing the density of the traffic on the Parkway...
...or its speed. I can give you some idea of its size: two eastbound lanes then a narrow medium, then six lanes of both east and westbound lanes, another narrow medium, and finally, two westbound lands. It's not a street crossing; it's a commitment. FanSee
It wasn't until I woke up this morning, Tuesday, May 18th, that I realized what was the best, the most encouraging aspect of yesterday's walk. It wasn't that I walked 1,267 steps; I've done that before. What was new and exciting is that I had no back pain. None. Zero. Over the last year or so, I've had to walk in short bursts of steps to get over 1,000 steps in one day. That's a very inefficient, time-consuming way to accumulate distance, and most of the time I ended up where I started off. Well. one usually does, doesn't one? but in most cases one goes there, then comes back. I was constantly going thereandback, thereandback, thereandback. No more, baby, no more. Watch out world. FanSee
That street is Park Towne Place Road: I had not walked across it in fifteen months. Crossing it, even holding on to my trusty (hopefully trusty) rollator, was scary. I wasn't sure what I was scared of, but I quickly found out. Slopes, even mild slopes, are scary. To get to the Target or Whole Foods on my own, I'll have to negotiate a real hill. That's a challenge for another day.
This is what I saw that I had to conquer today:
I had come out a side door, mainly used trash disposal, moving large items in or out, etc., but...like everything at Park Towne Place...clean, neat, and useable. Before me was the main entrance to the building and beyond it, the median. I gritted my teeth and walked forward.
The Maja. I had seen it before, right after it was moved from the Art Museum to its new home across from my apartment complex. Then it disappeared for the winter while a great deal of work was done on the medium to transform it from this...
...to this:
I understand that Park Towne Place instigated moving the statue from among the many statues displayed around the Art Museum and paid for its transfer. I don't know whether the City of Philadelphia paid for the work done on the medium or whether Park Towne Place (PTP) supported the effort or whether PTP underwrote the whole move. If the latter, then that's another reason my rent is 30% higher than in any other apartment building on the Parkway. (PTP is also nicer in many other ways than any other apartment complex I toured.)
All the construction involved tore up much of the grass on the medium so, as you can see, leaving the paths is strongly...and attractively...discouraged.
I was unable to get a really good shot showing the density of the traffic on the Parkway...
...or its speed. I can give you some idea of its size: two eastbound lanes then a narrow medium, then six lanes of both east and westbound lanes, another narrow medium, and finally, two westbound lands. It's not a street crossing; it's a commitment. FanSee
It wasn't until I woke up this morning, Tuesday, May 18th, that I realized what was the best, the most encouraging aspect of yesterday's walk. It wasn't that I walked 1,267 steps; I've done that before. What was new and exciting is that I had no back pain. None. Zero. Over the last year or so, I've had to walk in short bursts of steps to get over 1,000 steps in one day. That's a very inefficient, time-consuming way to accumulate distance, and most of the time I ended up where I started off. Well. one usually does, doesn't one? but in most cases one goes there, then comes back. I was constantly going thereandback, thereandback, thereandback. No more, baby, no more. Watch out world. FanSee