After taking vacation recently, I returned to about 20 requests for lunch or coffee with colleagues across the many areas that IB touches. I booked one lunch and one coffee for every single day that I was holding formal office hours, well into the next month. Then I thought, hey, I simply can’t do this many restaurant lunches. I can’t eat that many fruit plates or sip that many bowls of broth soups (my latest attempt at dieting off a restaurant menu), and I don’t have time to travel very far or the patience to go downtown for lunch, so … fruit plates. Since I hate salads, I am admittedly somewhat limited.
Then, when Ginny Gilbert called, I thought what a good idea it would be to combine two things I really do enjoy – chatting with a friend and walking through Olbrich Gardens. So instead of meeting in a restaurant for lunch, I asked her to brown-bag a sandwich and meet me in the lobby of Olbrich. I’m happy to report that we were able to eat healthy, there was no discussion over who was to pick up the tab (who paid last time?), and we also exercised and sat with sunshine on our faces.
I revived the plan when meeting Steve Cook to discuss his new business venture. And now I have four walks scheduled next week. We don’t have to meet for coffee; we can bring our coffee with us, and walk.
The reaction to the “let’s take a walk instead” idea has been phenomenally positive. And I’m going to do it over and over and over this summer because life is short, my friends, and I don’t really like restaurant lunches or Starbucks coffee all that much. When I do venture out, it is to Monona Grill, owned by my friend Nick, and eating there is more like visiting home than going to a restaurant. I will also go to Bonfyre for squash soup with Mike Dubis and to Egg & I for the Salvation Army’s ridiculously early finance committee meetings (ask me how I really feel about 7:30 a.m. meetings!), and I’ll continue to dine with Barb Hernandez at Pedro’s. Otherwise, I’m going to choose parks and walking paths for business discussions.
Olbrich is best because it has an indoor option for bad-weather days. I don’t like crowds, so I’m not going to be much of a mall walker, but I am open to other suggestions. If you and I haven’t crossed paths for a while and we’ve promised to “get something on the calendar,” consider where you’d like to walk in nature. There’s a beautiful place close to my office that has gorgeous statuary, if you’re willing to overlook the fact that it’s a cemetery. Otherwise, I’ll be most happy to meet you at Olbrich.
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