A Town Hall workout, walk and waddle…
What does your walk say about you? Gerard Smith has an interesting take on in in his WordSmith column this week...
There’s these metal bars by the side of Cavan Town Hall for locking up bikes. I use them as a makeshift gym; they’re great for doing push-ups and press-ups. During the fine weather I decided on an impromptu Town Hall workout. Afterwards, I took off across the road with the sun slightly impairing my vision; but I saw enough to see a man walking towards me. I was struck by his gait and quietly said to myself, “He walks like a duck.” Noting we were on a collision course, I moved to the left, and he did the same in that awkward way when you’re walking towards someone on the street and you both hesitate not knowing which way to go (you know what I mean, you’ve been there).
Back to the man I was walking towards: we swapped smiles, and at this point I stopped to shield my eyes, and so did he. I wondered if we knew each other? Then it dawned on me how well I knew him – I was looking at my own reflection in a large window. It’s myself who walks like a duck!
Afterwards, I asked my friend, “Do you think I walk like a duck?” Her immediate response was an emphatic, “No, you don’t.” She paused a while before adding, “You walk more like a penguin.” She ran ahead of me, stopped and asked me to walk towards her; I noted her careful study of my walk while I made a concerted effort to curtail any penguin-like-waddle.She arrived at her considered appraisal, “It’s because you walk with your feet out.” I confess, I was a little disappointed with her conclusion; for the fact is, I prefer ducks to penguins (I associate The Penguin with the badness of The Batman character).
This slight waddle in my walk isn’t a new thing, nor the result of any age-induced hip erosion. No, I now realise I’ve always waddled like a duck and done the hucklebuck. A while back while travelling to Cavan for a wedding, I received a text from a friend who was waiting at the airport, ‘I’ve been at arrivals for half an hour and no sign of your waddle.’ When I finally arrived I asked, “What do you mean about waddling?” He walked away laughing, “you waddle when you walk.” I spent that wedding looking for the waddle in my walk in the Hotel Kilmore mirrors.
And last summer, I made contact with a man I’ve not seen since we were thrusting art students in throbbing 80s Dublin. He was passing through Cavan and we arranged to meet.
I was slightly nervous in that way when you’re about to meet someone you haven’t seen in decades; the sight of people from our youth is always a stark reminder of the passing of time.
Walking down the street towards our meeting point I heard a shout, “Gerry,” (I was Gerry, back then). I saw my old friend waving me over; I was delighted he recognised me after all the years. Crossing the street however, he pulled the rug from under my feet, “I recognised your gait, it hasn’t changed,” he said. Dear reader, the widdle-waddle was always with me – and I embrace it. Like our fingerprints, the way we walk is part of our DNA; and while our faces and bodies age, our walk remains the same and can clearly identify us at a distance.As I write, I’m surrounded by Easter eggs and bunny rabbits; they’re in shops and adorning the walls of our public spaces. Yet, I believe the duck is more symbolic of Easter, and life itself. I like how they can traverse water, land, and even take flight when their lives demand it. At this time of year, ducks symbolise birth and renewal. There was a raft of ducks that used to live in Con Smith Park; I loved watching the ducklings follow their mammy, they epitomised family nurturing; a joy to behold. They’ve now sadly departed the park, but I’m happy I got a picture of them, the first time I got all my ducks in a row. The Easter Bunny may currently be ubiquitous. But, I don’t like rabbits, all they do is: breed, hop, and spread myxomatosis. In this column I hereby campaign for ducks to take up the Easter-Marketing-Mantle. I love ducks, why wouldn’t I? Like me, they waddle through life.
HAPPY EASTER!
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