Musings while looking out my office window wondering how tall the weeds will get before anyone associated with HEB will care…

I guess I didn’t pay much attention back in the mid-1990s when Lake Jackson was putting together the pedestrian and bicycle master plan. But it piqued my interest around 2002 when the estimated cost to construct a 10-foot wide sidewalk down Oyster Creek Drive went north of the $1 million mark.

A federal transportation grant was issued and Lake Jackson was to match a certain amount of money to have the project go through. Work was then completed and I barely gave it an afterthought unless a certain family member complained about how much the sidewalk cost. That is until last week when I grew tired of melting into my recliner each night after work for several hours until bedtime.

It was time to get up and walk. I lost weight a few years ago by eating less and walking through the neighborhood. This time I decided to try the big sidewalk on Oyster Creek Drive to garner some relief from the monotony of walking the same neighborhood trail I had before. Here are things I’ve noticed on the 3-mile round trip trail I trek (nearly) every night.

·       The sidewalk/trail is used. Yesterday morning as I drove to work I counted 17 walkers/joggers/bikers hitting the path to exercise either themselves or their animals or both. The trail is used at all times of day by people from all walks of life, including former two-time presidential candidate Ron Paul.

·       Lake Jackson has a good police presence from Buc-ees on Old Angleton Road all the way to Lake Jackson Intermediate School. My walk usually takes one hour and in that time I see two or three patrol cars driving and one sitting in the fire station parking lot picking out speeders.

·       More than a few people take great pride in their yards. Most front yards on Oyster Creek Drive and several backyards on the street are full of flowers, plants and well-manicured yards. Also, contrary to popular belief there are still some children who jump on trampolines and swim in pools outside their homes.

·       Citizens of Lake Jackson love pizza delivery. The most-often seen delivery drivers come from Domino’s and All Star Pizza.

·       People are still friendly. Most everyone waves or greets one another. I think there’s an exercise fraternity mentality to it, kinda like motorcycle riders acknowledging each other.

I hope to keep walking for exercise and eventually would like to see the other side of Oyster Creek Drive with a large two-lane sidewalk. And even though the path isn’t crowded on a daily basis, and it did cost a lot of money, I think it was money well spent.

-        Russell Burnett Jr. is a resident of Lake Jackson.