Outsideland

Yo, PEEPS! Did you KNOW? Did you KNOW that there is a WORLD out there? OUT THERE, beyond the confines of these four walls?

The snow is gone, the temperature is above zero for a few days consecutively, and we got out for a WALK. Yes. OUTSIDE. In the OUTSIDELAND.

Can you believe it?

It was wonderful. We haven’t gone too far afield yet. Despite the temperature being above zero, the wind is still pretty fricking chilly, and I don’t want That Baby coming home with chapped cheeks and lips. So, we’ve gone out for about an hour, just cruising around the neighbourhood today, and yesterday, down to the grocery store where That Baby can bask in the life of a Celebrity.

She is quite famous in the world of our little grocery store. Staff come out to see her when she is in, and when we approach the checkout, the wonderful Mabel snatches her out of her stroller and shows her off to all the Stinkerbelle-lovin’ peeps within striking distance.

But not only does Stinkerbelle get the adoration of her public, I get a walk in, and some manageable amounts of groceries too. Since my car has been on the fritz (as you recall, it GOES all right, but it does not STOP, which is kind of a key part of the yin and yang of driving) we have had to wait until the weekend when BDH is home, and all three of us go and do a Big Shop. Which sucks, not just because there’s a lot of people out on the weekend and we hate The People, but also because we tend to spend way too much. So walking and groceries keeps a limit on what I can buy, only to what will fit in the basket under the stroller, and only so much that I can still push the damn thing up the hill and back home again.

So we walk. Stinkerbelle enjoys being out in the world, and I do too. We get tired of looking at ourselves and Meryl Streep all the fricking time.

I like it because it is an opportunity to get some exercise, which I have been sorely lacking. Okay, hefting That Baby up and down the stairs and up and down my person all day long is a fair bit of exercise, I grant you. I’ve got guns on me these days like Schwarzenegger in his heydey, and some stomach muscles too. But I have been lacking exercise of the aerobic variety. Of course, post walk, my muscles are all “WTF?? Qu’est-ce que le hell is this… exercise??” on me, but I can live with it.

And my brain gets a little exercise. I put on my iPod and listen to some podcasts. News and documentaries from the BBC and the World Service. Travel shows and history programs. It’s more evidence that there’s a World Out There, and it ranges even beyond my little neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, Stinkerbelle jabbers away to herself, and flaps her little arms about like some strange puffy pink bird, and marvels at trees, and just generally takes it all in. Long gone are the days when she used to nap through our walks. Now there’s just so much to see, and do, and learn, that she couldn’t possibly sleep. But that’s fine, because it actually works in my favour — not only is she happily occupied on our walk so I can have some head space, but the fresh air wears her out and she naps when we get back. SCORE.

So the forecast says we have a week of above zero temperatures. Some rain is coming, but that is okay — it’ll be the weekend, and That Baby will want to spend some time with her Daddy anyway. And we all know how accurate the forecasts are, especially at this time of year. Glimpses of spring are fleeting indeed, at least until the end of April.

But as long as it lasts, we’re going to get Out There. Walking around and visiting Outsideland. It’s like visiting an old friend.