Letters from Lockdown: COVID-19 Parkour

Up and down, back and forth one walks. One is transported to the board game Chutes and Ladders, although in real life. 

We have to keep our distance. In order to do so, one may have to walk into the gutter, cross the street, wait for others or even walk to the next block, up a hill. 

Don't complain. At least one could have exercise.

Yet one has difficulty with the dog walkers. So slow, an impediment. The dogs have a great life, since they could take their time. The sidewalk is fascinating to them. Why?

In order to have exercise, one learns the empty streets. One learns the empty times. One could go faster without others to go around. We will not reveal these secret places. It is for others to discover themselves.

Parkour: The word derives from parcours du combat (obstacle course). Now one knows what it means. Other pedestrians are the obstacles in this course. Oh, to be a runner! One could quickly detour around the obstacles.

Oh, to be a flậneur, as in the past, strolling through the city, stopping and looking in store windows, at buildings, at flowers, at whatever, just avoiding bumping into others, without a care. How one longs for those days, pre-COVID-19. Will they return?