Posts tagged winter

I’ve written about walking and some of the myriad insights into an individual it can provide. This morning, I realized winter provides a unique opportunity to examine an aspect of the act I previously ignored- balance.

With all this ice coating Boston, it doesn’t take long walking about before you or someone around you slips. It is interesting to see how people adapt to this. Some try to acclimate, avoiding ice and snow whenever possible, taking unnaturally short steps so as to maintain a centered balance, keeping their arms out of their pockets… creating a unique” winter walk”.

Other people charge ahead brazenly, ignoring the ice. Sure, they may slip and slide but they do so with confidence. Sadly, these are the people i most often see fall flat on their backs - take that as a metaphor for whatever you will. These people are commonly young to middle aged men, go figure.

You also see some people treating the ice as a source of amusement. They run forward to a patch and slide across, grinning all the way. They spin and jump and generally frolick about. They also fall rather often, but I think this group minds that less than the others. As you might imagine, these people are usually fairly young.

And me? I think I do all of these at one point or another. It depends on where I am going, why, and with whom. I also notice one additional thing about my own experience with the snow- I seem to have a centered balance most of the time. Most people I’ve seen slipping tend to flail, hoping to right themselves as they inexorably tip. On the other hand, I usually freeze, no pun intended. I don’t move my limbs much at all, and simply slide forward, maintaining my posture. This actually works very well, as most patches tend to be small and before I might fall I reach their end. This seems to indicate that most of the time while I am walking my balance is fairly centered. It may also help that I ice skated for a number of years, and am not uncomfortable sliding forward on one foot on ice.