(by Cu)
Though most of my friends advise me go to school by bus or by tram everyday, I prefer walking. In fact, I still have to take the train to commute from where I live to the city where I study; but the last few kilometers seem somehow much more interesting on foot. I enjoy strolling along the riverside, feeling the midday’s heat on my neck and the wind in my hair. And as I can advance at my own pace, I have (almost) all the time needed to observe disheartened faces at the beginning of a week or their weariness on Friday afternoons and to take pictures of funny, interesting or beautiful things on the way.
One of the things that I long to see every time I step off the train and begin my journey on foot to school is this cat.
This photo was taken the first time I saw it. At that time, I only found it funny to run into a cat that was washing itself confidently in the middle of the pavement, without knowing that it would cheer up my everyday later on, during the next 4 months.
After that, I also discovered that that first encounter was one of those few times when the cat actually did any action. It would otherwise only lie around at different places and sleep all the time.
One car would normally be chosen as its throne each day. Then if the sunlight shone warmly, it would be lying comfortably in one corner of a nearby playground, taking its nap lazily with its half-closed yet suspicious eyes.
At times, with the same pose, the cat would spent its day on someone’s windowsill. It surprised me that no one in the neighborhood ever tried to chase it away. Maybe they too were already used to the stubbornness and that idle look of the animal.
I personally find that it has done its best as a cat, just by lying around and napping all the time, so that I’d be entertained everyday as hours of sitting still and trying not to doze off are waiting at school. Without this cat, my day would certainly be boring and incomplete.
So I want to say many thanks to Miss Cat, who has been encouraging me and who has proved that my decision to walk to school is right after all!
Worldlittlelights 
Absolutely correct. Walking is the best way to go, if possible. Not only does it allow to observe more, you control the choice of when to stop and perhaps understand, maybe just a little better, what you observe.
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Yes, every time I discover something new on the street, like a broken bike wheel lying in a corner or a letter box decorated with a bird’s statue, I feel happy that I’ve chosen to walk on that day. There are other interesting things on the bus too, like how people behave early in the morning, or how the quiet atmosphere inside the bus can be easily broken by a noisy teenage gang. But I guess walking still just suites me better for the freedom it can offer.
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