These past weeks I have been exercising irregularly due to clashing commitments, and I’m feeling the effects. I am irritable and restless when I don’t get enough exercise. And the irregularity itself is giving me a bad case of restless legs. I was tossing and turning in bed yesterday night, trying to calm down my legs so I could sleep. Today I couldn’t even sit still in the sofa without my legs twitching. At ten o’clock, when both kids were in bed, I went for long and energetic walk, and felt much, much better when I got home (and got a good night’s sleep). (I’m posting this a few days later, not at half past midnight!)

Nighttime is not a bad time for walking. You don’t get much of a view, true. But the streets and parks are relaxingly empty and quiet.

We have Nälstafältet nearby, a kind of meadow-ish area that the city mows occasionally, with a few trees, a stream and footpaths crossing it here and there. I like to walk there occasionally: it’s near enough that it’s easy to get to, but far enough and large enough that walking to its farthest end is a proper walk. And right now it’s frozen and covered with a thin layer of snow, so it’s really pleasant to walk on: firm, but softer than asphalt, and uneven enough to feel good for the feet.