By David Fortier

Come Sunday morning I will have made some progress with my knee. I will have been discharged from in-home physical therapy, and I am looking forward to my first out-patient physical therapy session early next week. When I say looking forward to physical therapy, I say this with some apprehension, since I am wondering just what it takes to get this new knee to be more flexible. 

So, beyond that, I don’t think much about it. Just have to see what happens. And do the work, which means stretching, walking, stretching and icing. A lot of icing. 

And then there are the little things that make a difference, such as sidewalks.  Walking is key to recovery.

At first walking meant a lap through the house. I was instructed to tape down the corners of rugs, remove throw rugs, move obstacles. I complied. And I used my walker. Then I graduated to a cane, learned to manage the stairs, and navigated the front walk and driveway. 

Now I am on to walks through the neighborhood—and on sidewalks. I don’t think much about sidewalks, or I didn’t, until now when I have to rely on them to get my steps in.  

Not all sidewalks are equal.  

My favorites are the nice flat ones without any cracks, lifts or dips; free of those tufts of grass and weeds. Nice and flat, because I need to keep moving and I can’t afford to trip. A tumble, and where would I be? Yikes! 

So now I notice and am thankful for the ones that make for smooth walking. At the same time, I have started to notice how different they are. 

There are the newer sidewalks with that silvery gray tint. Then there are the older ones, more tan than any other color. Some older ones have larger gray and white and yellow and sometimes red stones to strengthen them.

Look closer and even some of the ones that look like sheets of concrete might have tiny stones in them. 

It sure looks as if people have been experimenting with different types, and I am sure each has a history. Once the ones with the stones crack, it is inevitable that the slab will fracture soon after, but some of them are 100 years old. 

And then there is the whole idea that those sidewalks belong to individual homeowners, and it’s up to us to keep them in good shape.  

As a person who is a homeowner, but who did not grow up in a home owned by my family, I can’t help thinking how it is that these sidewalks need some tender love and care, and how I just might have to start thinking about those weeds and the destruction they cause; because my sidewalk isn’t only for me, it’s for anyone who walks down it, and I am responsible for maintaining it. 

It’s something to think about and, eventually, when I am going at 100 percent, to do something about. Things just don’t take care of themselves. We need to take care of them. Sounds simple, doesn’t it. 

Homework for this week: another Ezra Klein podcast, 41 Questions for the Technologies We Use,  and That Use Us.  

And a request. This Thursday, The Bristol Edition is holding a community forum at the Stone House at Rockwell Park, down by the new Bicycle Pump Track. The idea here is to gather readers and ask them about what they would like to see in our pages and posts over the next quarter. Everyone is invited. We start promptly at 6 p.m. and end promptly at 7:30 pm. Please bring a chair and something to take notes with. We love to hear what you have to say—which means this time around participating in small groups and prioritizing local news coverage. 

It is a different way of doing journalism and one we think that will appeal to our readers. Essentially, this journalism is an exercise in democracy, how to focus on what is important, how to enable each other to be our best in conversations that involve our community, how to decide who we’d like to be and where we would like to go. 

Come on down and join us. 

Until next week! 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. Fortier can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.