'No more two, three, four
wheels... but two legs, shoes and socks' - a saunterer's tale
"If you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled
all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk"
(Henry David Thoreau, in 'Walking')
ROME: 4th March 2006 -- One could never imagine,
writing tongue-in-cheek in #1439, "cheer up, there's always the horse",
that it might just change someone's life! But it did, apparently.
A confrere has written in - it is now one month since he was inspired
by austraLasia - to point out that "horses here in ..... [the
confrere's anonymity will be guaranteed] would be impossible and I
would be confined to a Mental hospital if I had one, but after reading
of your alternative solution, I decided to walk". Good for
you. Henry David Thoreau, one of my favourite essayists once
said: "The chivalric
and heroic spirit which once belonged to the rider seems now to reside
in—or perchance to have subsided into the Walker—not the Knight but the
Walker
Errant".
Father [we can reveal that much] is a chaplain to a
local group of Sisters, and although the Rector permitted him to ride a
bike, his life has 'fallen into the sear of the yellow leaf' as
Shakespeare nicely put it, and the Sisters were worried. This
true story takes place in a busy metropolis. "Now the interesting
experience", Father goes on to say "is that once I decided to stop
biking and start walking, I began arriving too early! It was taking me
less time than with the car or the bike, and of course my health and
eye sight were much improved". By now he is a real enthusiast:
"After two or three weeks of doing this, I understand that walking
saves a lot of time, avoids waste of time in traffic. Isn't it
interesting? I think that many should try the same: less weight
problems, less pollution, fewer financial worries...".
Father has learned to be a saunterer. Now that
is an exquisite word and very appropriate to the season of Lent we have
just entered. A saunterer is one who actually understands the art
of Walking. A saunterer was a person, back in the Middle Ages,
who roved about the countryside asking charity on the pretence that he
was going à la sainte terre - that is, to the Holy Land!
Then the children (the kids always see through these things) would
exclaim, "There goes a sainte-terrer", a saunterer—a
holy-lander". A saunterer, then. Mind you, Thoreau, from whom I
took that little gem, also says that another etymology could be sans
terre - without anywhere to live! But Father does have
somewhere to live, and confreres to love, so he is a 'saunterer' in the
most noble sense of that word.
"And what about on Sundays when I have to go further
for Masses?" Father asks, then answers "well, I thought it would be
necessary to bike again but I made the surprising discovery that....I
am on time again. So, no more two, three, four or more wheels, no
four legs, but two legs, shoes and socks".
And there you have it. Even when we're having
fun we are obviously inspiring people to great things. Think of the
Lenten meditations possible on walking and while walking. Wanderlust,
Walkabout, Pilgrims. Why, you could use it as an interesting leitmotif for Reading the Memoirs of the
Oratory, even: walking to school, meeting Don Calosso, walking to
Turin, the wandering Oratory, Autumn walks, Grigio.......Let's leave it
at that and a big, big thanks to Father for sensibly dodging the
seductive luxury of the horse and taking the basic idea one step
further - literally.
GLOSSARY
chivalric: from chivalry, reference to the
Knights on horseback (chevaliers from a French word meaning
horse)
Walker Errant: The Knight Errant was the
roving Knight who stood against the King's injustice. Mind you,
he could just as easily be Robin Hood!
leitmotif: a recurring theme or motif
(usually used in music or art...or literature).
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