Walk and Write

Among my best childhood memories growing up in semi-rural India was being able to walk everywhere including school and taking the train when going on a vacation. Reading a couple of very unrelated articles took me way back in time. One is about shoes that buzz to tell you when you need to turn left or right and the other about Amrtrak offering an in-train writer's residency. 

Lost while walking to a new place is all too familiar for me where I grew up in India - the narrow lanes and bylanes leading to someone's house got so confusing that had to ask for directions to some place I could recognize. Not sure these shoes would so help in that scenario. Though in a more planned and organized space it would be very useful. The Amtrak residency for writers sounds great though you have to wonder if they can nurture let alone sustain it gives their financial woes. This is like asking for tiramisu for dessert when there is no money to put a basic meal on the table.