In case you wondered …

… Why We Walk | Timothy Jacobson | First Things. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Excepting that awful management cliché, “walk the talk,” walking retains even today a certain dignity. “Hike” can be used negatively. The contemptuous “take a hike” (as in beat it, get lost, drop dead) doesn’t work with “walk.” Rather, after too much time at the screen, we take a walk to clear the mind and to refresh. Our purpose is modest, and the exercise usually works. Such walks, in my experience, are usually solitary ones.