[per-uh-puh–tet-ik]
adjective
- walking or traveling about; itinerant.
- (initial capital letter) of or relating to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.
- (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Aristotelian school of philosophy.
noun
- a person who walks or travels about.
- (initial capital letter) a member of the Aristotelian school.
I have a friend in Idaho named Hannah. You might know her as “the girl in Beth’s photos with the nice behind.” We’ve been skate skiing and snowshoeing together and I seem to always take photos of her tush surrounded by beauty. They turn out really nice, I think.
Hannah and I have a peripatetic friendship, I suppose. We walk and we chat and we gawk. Yesterday there was a free snowshoe tour. The guide’s daughter was sick so another woman was filling in. About twelve of us gathered around and she asked, “Is this anyone’s first time snowshoeing?” I was the only one to raise my hand.
“Well, it’s like walking,” she stated seriously.
I giggled. I’ve been walking for years now and felt pretty confident.
Off we went, twelve confident walkers. The guide read from her notes and then spent about three minutes fumbling trying to get them back in her pocket. Then she realized she needed them again, and spent three more minutes trying to get them back out. Her notes taught us about lodgepole pines and friendly firs.
On the peripatetic tour, she pointed out weasel tracks and snow plops. She had a way of saying, “Well of course…” following by something most people wouldn’t know, like something about a specific incident in 1859. This was hilarious to me. Or “of course the latin name for the red squirrel is ‘Sciurus Vulgaris.’”
Of course.
Stay tuned for the next photo of a lovely peripatetic time with Hannah. Of her good looking tush, of course.
beth of fresh air 