I invited both my children, separately, to take me on a one kilometre walk beginning at our home. I followed their lead, allowing them to set the pace and route (including stops and diversions) and gave myself the task of simply being with them and experiencing the terrain as they might. When the kilometre ended, I took the lead again.

Walking With Kilometre #1
Juniper Khagram, 3 years old. 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Notes: We walked down to the river, meandering and stopping often in driveways, at houses, balancing on logs and investigating holes in the ground, leaves, plants and faerie dwellings. At 128 metres, we walked back home to get Juniper’s balance bicycle, which she rode (walking) for the rest of the walk. We sang songs to the leaves and trees, knocked on neighbors doors, and swung on a tire swing in a neighbor’s yard we did not know.

 

Walking With Kilometre #2
Anand Khagram, 6 years old. 1 hour 31 minutes.

Notes: We spent the first 10 minutes of the walk lying in the grass on our neighbor’s boulevard resting and watching clouds. Anand had a piece of chalk in his pocket. He broke it and gave half to me. Along the walk, we drew shapes on telephone poles, tree trunks and fallen logs and on the pavement and ground. We spent much of the walk in the trees, climbing a connected network of leaning and fallen Manitoba Maple trees that criss-crossed over the path and extended into the river. We fell in the river and got soakers, looked for mushrooms, found minnows, fish, old glass and slag and made silly sounds.