there’s an episode of spongebob where the superintendent discovers that spongebob has failed the boating test over 1.2 million times—so he fires mrs puff. she’s replaced with this goblin shark navy drill instructor who teaches spongebob to crawl the course, then walk it, then do it blindfolded. he knows every pebble and turn — but then goes to take the test… and can’t do it while not blindfolded. being able to see everything causes him to panic, crash the boat.. superintendent realizes it isn’t mrs puff that was the problem.
i think about the scene sometimes when i’m walking rather than driving. when i start walking around, even in places that i know quite well… it slows me down. makes me see things i hadn’t before. little nooks and crannies — nice spots to eat / random happenings that i would’ve just driven past. it’s hard to remember always. find myself always plugging into destinations. guided by pull of the day. not an exact metaphor but, feels like the blindfold from spongebob. drive past things, don’t even have a chance to look up. so quick in the rear view.
theres a special something that happens in those walks though. found some of that today: shoutout the puritan oyster house (even though they didn’t have a USB-C?) and the saint cosmas festival.
sometimes though, those walks force me to confront things i maybe would’ve rather been hidden in the comfort of my car for.
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