Just a perfect day, you made me forget myself

I needed to go to the supermarket today to pick up some bread and milk. I decided to walk.

Most people would think I was crazy. It snowed and sleeted last night. There was a little bit of some sort of unidentifiable precipitation when I left. But there were a few reasons why I decided to walk.

First, it wasn't nearly as cold today as it was yesterday. Maybe the air temperature was similar, but the wind was gone. It actually wasn't entirely unpleasant to be outside!

Second, the supermarket is probably about a half mile from my apartment. I knew I wasn't going to go to the gym today, so I thought the walk would do me good.

Third, and most importantly, I didn't want to lose my parking spot. Those of you who live in the city and have to park on the street know all about this. I have the last spot before a driveway, so no one can park behind my car. This means that even if it snows more, as is predicted, I should still have a somewhat easy time getting my car out of its spot. There is nothing worse than being blocked in while parallel parked when it snows. You have even less wiggle room for getting out of the spot because there are piles of snow in front of and behind the car. Getting only milk and bread did not necessitate moving the car. If I needed a full supply of groceries perhaps I would have used my car, but milk and bread only didn't warrant it.

I really didn't mind the walk. I put on my This Week In Hockey podcast and listened to Stan Fischler and and John Giannone talk about hockey. At times I had to turn up the volume on my iPod because the el was going by, but I actually like the sound of the el, so this didn't bother me. If I hear the el it means I'm home. It is one of those sounds I don't even really notice, but I miss it when I'm in a quiet environment.

It's a dreary day today; it's cloudy and gray. This is the sort of day that makes Chicago look ugly to people who don't really love it. Combine a gray sky, gray slush on the ground, and the drab brick buildings and it's not a very inviting sight. But I can't imagine it any other way. I can't imagine brightness and color all over the place. It's just not for me.

This is the sort of day when people stay inside, and to be honest if it wasn't for running out of milk this morning I would have stayed inside as well. But it really is a beautiful day.