Wide, easy-to-negotiate walkway on Ocean Springs’ Front Beach
The paved walkway, part of a post-Katrina beach restoration, is well-kept and offers a fairly even surface for walkers facing mobility challenges. My physical therapist encourages walking as part of my stroke recovery. Walking outside is something I love, except when temperatures soar into the 90s.
And that has been what we have been experiencing for much of the summer. Nighttime has offered little relief with high humidity and lows in the 80s.We were out at about 7 a.m. Sunday in that window of opportunity before things heated up.
We parked our van and started walking, me with a side-to-side gait similar to a toddler’s, Walter holding on to my belt with his right hand while I was pressing down on his left hand with my stroke-affected left as hard as I could. The belt is because I am still in the at-risk category for falls. The hand interaction is a strategy that Ashley, the physical therapist, says helps my torso to start kicking in and getting everything to work together.
After a long walk, we headed back toward our van. Walter sat me down on the concrete barricade between the street and the beach and in the shade of the van. I wondered what he was up to. Usually I sit near an opening in the barricade that allows walkers and cyclists easy access to the beach and me easy access for maneuvering into the van safely.
This time Walter pulled out our camping chairs and I was soon on a much more comfortable perch than the concrete barricade. He then proceeded to take out our Coleman stove and start preparing coffee for him and tea for me.
Coleman stove expands our beach walk enjoyment.
As we sipped we enjoyed the cool, the water, the shorebirds and the sense of community that the walkway produces. Most walkers on this particular walkway, regardless of age, make eye contact and say: hello, good morning or, as Walter was making coffee, a greeting of “Is coffee ready yet!”
The paved walkway welcomes walkers . . .
. . . and cyclists.
Enjoying our Sunday treat
We finished our tea and coffee, loaded up and headed home. We still had time for breakfast, getting ready for church and making it on time. Maybe early morning beach time is the key to resolving our post-stroke tendency to arrive late for church.