But, it has been thousands of steps forward as we discovered that walking is nothing to be dreaded, even with a four-year-old. It might be cliched, but it is as they say: When God closes a door, He opens a window. For us, several windows were opened.
First, I bought a small stroller for Summy. Then we set out, and discovered that the library, which seems so far away driving, is actually only half a mile away. Almost every day we walk to the wonderful library, and stroll down the beautiful tree lined, shop lined small-town street that the library is on.
The grocery stores are less than a mile away too, and walking to them is a breeze, though ofcourse I cannot buy much (or I'd break my back carrying groceries). The movie theatres are right there, if we only chose to go see a movie.
The beach can be walked to too, though I don't walk there often because it's so hard to avoid sunshine there. But we did make it to the beach on the day of Japan America Kite Festival, and had fun looking at interesting kites (and kite dances), listening to music and making our own kite.I'd never taken Summy to the swimming pool that's right in our apartment complex before the car broke down. But now we go almost everyday, and she loves to twist and turn in the water like a seal!
So when we need to get somewhere far, we rent a car, or use Kiran's. On other days, I hang my big red beach bag on my shoulders, and we go where the road takes us.
