Recently, the sidewalk outside of our office building was closed for about ten days due to road construction. On several of those days I drove past the orange cones and barriers to our parking lot and not even two minutes later walked around the corner to take the sidewalk like I always do, as though nothing had changed. Each time I sort of chided myself for my short memory and then crossed to the other side of the street to get to the office. While I knew the sidewalk was closed, I was still operating on my normal unconscious routine until I was confronted by the bright orange barrier that said “Sidewalk Closed.”
One of those mornings I realized that in all the time I’d been walking my route to the office I had never been down that side of the street or seen the building from that vantage point. So, I stopped and looked up toward the spot where our offices are. Because I followed a normal routine I hadn’t appreciated the color of the brick, the architectural nuances or the...
