Pedestrian in PA

As the only pedestrian in Port Alberni, the return of wet weather, and the steadily darkening days, have brought back some concerns.

The fact that I am the only pedestrian in Port Alberni is easily evidenced by the fact that the sidewalks here, while they do exist, and are even fairly prevalent, are sadly neglected.  Most of them are older than I am, which means that they are broken and buckled in many places, and thus provide very treacherous footing, particularly in the rain and dark.  There is also the fact that they are unused, which has meant that many homeowners have felt free to allow hedges to almost completely overgrow the sidewalks.  So, it's back to mostly walking on the roads.

There are also the crosswalks.  An awful lot of the crosswalks around town are just painted with enamel paint, rather than the heavy (and expensive) grit containing paint that is used for most road markings these days.  The new stuff is OK for walking on, but the enamel paint makes the crosswalks slick and a bit of a deathtrap in the rain.  I tend to have to walk just outside the crosswalks when crossing streets, in order to make it to the other side without going skating.

With the return of dark days, my clothing, which these days consists primarily of conference and vendor giveaways, has become a concern.  For some reason, it's primarily black.  Most of my t-shirts are black, and those that aren't black are almost all dark grey.  However, thanks to ICBC, I have been able to find some reflectors to attach to my packs and jackets.