December 1: seven months of walking Cambridge!
Once the school year started, it became harder to walk frequently, resulting in only 13 walks in September, October, and November combined. I’ve now walked 701 streets out of 858 (up from 517 on 9/1), which is a solid 82% of Cambridge (up from 60% on 9/1).
The breakdown:
— 81% of 02138 (50% on Sept 1)
— 87% of 02139 (78% on Sept 1)
— 63% of 02140 (28% on Sept 1)
— Still 100%* of 02141
— Still 100%* of 02142
*Close enough, thanks to some construction.
I finished Mass Ave!
As you can see, the new territory in this chunk of time brought me north and west, to parts of Cambridge I didn’t know before. On election night, I went for a brisk walk just south of Harvard Square to center myself before watching the news. It was on this walk that I decided to abandon the “walks after dark don’t count” rule (because the day-lit hours are short now). Peering inside people’s warm homes will be the new thing to look for, after the gardens of the summer and Halloween decorations of the fall.
On that walk, I also got an escort down Bennett Ally. This is the “road” where the MBTA buses turn around before going head-first into the tunnel on Mt. Auburn St. It was very clearly not an option to just stroll down, so I asked permission. The friendly, classic Boston MBTA guy said no way but offered to walk with me. Nice and easy! He was *so* interested in my project (not).
Another September project was starting my blog! However, after a strong start, I had to focus my attention elsewhere (I guess work is important) and haven’t launched it yet. It’s second on the list for December projects!
Having passed 700 streets, I am definitely in the home stretch. If I can’t isolate and go away for winter break, I don’t see why I can’t finish by New Year’s Day. If I can, we’ll just have to see! I am super proud of all the gaps filled in with blue, and of how the map gets more ragged every picture. This will be a relic of the pandemic, for sure!
Sophie Strollin' Streetblocks 