In the city, you have a few ways to get around.

Taxi's are expensive. The public transportation in this city has become as unpredictable as Britney Spear's next move, owning a car and trying to find parking is like plugging two leaks with one finger.

So many of us resort to our feet.

Walking in to the city has always been one of my favorite things. If you know where you're going, you can discover streets you didn't know existed and houses to envy.

And you have plenty of time to think.

Last night I took the long way home from Websters Wine Bar. The streets were quiet and it was one of those warm November nights where you are teased in to believeing that this winter just won't be as bad as the last. Home was about an hour away and lately I've been in no rush to get back. So a walk seemed great.

I plugged my ipod in to my ears and started following streets lights and sidewalks through neighborhood streets that were off the beaten path. I started to just think. About anything really. I thought about everything that had happened recently. I thought about how in almost a few weeks I have to start Christmas shopping and how all the tourists in the city at that time make Christmas shopping not that fun. I thought about how I needed new sheets and how I want to go to Europe sometime soon. I thought about how, as I passed three story homes that could be found in Dwell Magazine, my apartment is so little in comparison. I thought about all the mistakes I may have made in the past months. I thought about all the people I may be angry at when it comes to being forgiven for the mistakes I made.

And as I rounded a corner to cut through an alley. Surrounded by garages on one side and and brick walls after brick walls on the other, the yellow of street lights lit the alley with a yellow so bright it was as if the sun was closer to the the Earth. I thought about how life can be tough in so many ways.

And then I saw her. A woman probably in her early thirties. She was wrapped in what looked like blankets that had gone through a paper shredder. She was wearing a winter hat and sleeping in between a dumpster and a brick wall.

She wasn't alone. She had a little girl with her. At least eight or nine.

When you live in the city you have options for getting around. Taxi cabs are a treat once in a while. The public transportation isn't as bad is it could be and driving a car would be a dream if it could happen.

And sometimes you have to walk. And no matter how you get around you have to realize at least you have these options. And sometimes when you walk you realize that options aren't as hard as they can be and worries can be so self-involved.

And sometimes, you can change perspective all in flash. You can decide that the options you have are better than other's options. Christmas shopping looks fun. Even having the possibility of going to Europe is refreshing and the idea that home-- even if there is no one there waiting for you like there used to be--is there waiting for you... and you can't wait to be with it.