Santana Row changed a lot. It opened the door when I was still in Santa Clara in 2003 and I used to frequent the bookstore at the end of the Row. It is gone now and I can't remember if it was a Borders or a Barns and Noble. The yellow granite sand parking lot behind it is gone too and it is now paved with asphalt. All around it, condos sprouted up. The Row itself is still lined with the same upscale shops and restaurants.
On the way back home from my nephew's wedding, I stopped there to plug the car in. While waiting, I figure I'd walk around the Row and soak up the nostalgia. It's been 15 years since I've been there, after all. But I was wearing a pair of dress shoes and pacing at 90 steps/min in them was rather clumsy uncomfortable. It wasn't going to be a long walk anyway, so I walked at a natural speed.
How nice it was to walk at a regular pace. I keep remembering the paraplegic that I saw on TV once, all teared up when he was able to stand up, with the aid of a robotic chair for the first time in years. Walking at a normal speed is like that: it's as if you are liberated from the prison that you are locked up in for decades. It feels that good to walk free like a normal person.
That was on 11/21. For 5 days afterwards I struggled. It was similar to the struggle after the flu shot in October. The speed limit is still in effect apparently and the price for infraction is as severe as ever.
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