Arlington’s ART 43 bus is punctual enough to set your watch to — although I suppose no one sets a watch anymore. But through the months I’ve ridden the “Art 43” I’ve come to count on its regularity.

This morning was another story. I figured there was a good excuse, and there was. An accident on the route tied up traffic for miles. But I waited … and waited. A small crowd soon formed.

What’s more important, though, is how I waited. On a Metro platform you can pace but you can’t walk. When you’re waiting for this bus, at least in the morning, you can walk — because the bus makes a little jog around a short block, and if you walk clockwise around the stop, you’ll see the bus in time to run for it.

All of which is to say that today I walked while I waited.

The walking wait (waiting walk?) is not the most restful walk I take. But it’s better than just plain waiting.

(Rice paddies in the sun. I figure if the walk wasn’t restful, at least the picture can be.)