We always knew at some point in our lives we would become minor celebrities, we just thought it would be from playing ukuleles and kazoos. Never did we imagine it would be for walking to work!

In May of 2008, we moved to a small apartment complex near the St. Joseph Hospital campus. Our walk to work is just shy of one-half mile and – believe it or not – IS uphill both ways. Invariably, walking down the halls of the hospital, sometimes even at lunch, someone will stop us and say, "aren’t you the couple I see walking to work?" This has allowed us a familiarity with a wide range of coworkers we might not otherwise get to engage, which usually leads to interesting dialogues on environmental concerns and ways we can all do our part.

Sitting down and figuring out the savings of that simple walk to work was quite an eye opener. Between the two of us, we are saving approximately 20,000 miles per year, not to mention wear and tear on the vehicles and on our sanity, since we no longer deal with "the dreaded Grandview triangle".

We get to experience the change of seasons in a very personal way. We see the delicate pinks and blues of the morning light and the fierier reds and deep purples of sunset. We have observed deer along our walk, birds singing, and a very determined spider build a huge web along our path. We started walking as a way to save on fuel costs, but what we found is that there is no better way to start a morning then to connect with nature and each other with a walk and a chat.

— Kathy Weber and Larry Herndon