Welcome to keepMEcurrent.com’s new featured weekly blog “Walk-A-Bout.”

Each week Current Publishing’s General Manager Bob Wallack and Publisher Lee Hews Casler will be taking a walk through one of the communities served by the eight weekly newspapers of Current Publishing. Every Monday, Lee and Bob will be sharing their experiences in “Walk-A-Bout” on keepMEcurrent.com.

If you see Lee and Bob as they trek through your town, be sure to wave, or even better come on over and say “hi,” they’d love to hear what’s going on in your community!

With the onset of good weather and a few extra pounds of middle age, we’ve set a goal to walk a couple of miles along the Presumpscot River every day around lunch time. From the American Journal office on Main Street, we head down behind the TD Banknorth building, following the trail all the way over to Cumberland Avenue, loop up to Main for a bit, before picking the trail back up near Subway. We get to talk a lot about work and life, and the funny things we see along the way.

There is a solo swan that floats around the river most days. On one occasion, I could hear him hollering out at some dogs in one of the backyards across the river, long before I could see where the raucous noise was coming from. We’ve watched the significant growth spurts of the baby ducklings that don’t stray too far from their mother’s watchful eye, as they paddle with the other two dozen or so birds around the river near Riverbank Park.

Today we saw a scuba diver in the river. I can’t imagine what he was watching or looking for below the surface of the mud-brown water. I’m guessing no dead bodies were turned up or we would have heard about it over the scanner in the newsroom at the paper.

Bob said, “I draw the line at jogging.” Apparently my pace has picked up over the past few weeks and he is feeling the stretch in his legs. I’m noticing a little more muscle tone, and a lot more energy later in the day, after weeks of our mid-day ritual. I often start or finish my day with a walk, too. A friend says I’m fanatical. I say, “No, I’m just getting fat,” and out-of-shape and would prefer to go through the second half of my life as healthy as possible.

The best part of the journey each day is picking a place to grab lunch. Westbrook has a great variety of restaurants and sandwich shops. We end up at Profenno’s at least once a week; Thanksgivings is a treat, but a tough walk back to the office if we indulge in the full turkey dinner. Casa Novello, Portland Pie, Subway, the salad or sushi bar at Hannaford – all within walking distance. Today we tried Burrito for the first time, and loved it. We had done a piece on it when they first opened, but I hadn’t made it in yet. I was pleasantly surprised with the artsy dacor, great food, and thoughts of a future Mojito after work someday.

Next week, we’re going to add psychic and tarot card readings to our to-do list on our daily walk…stay tuned for the results. I’m pretty sure it will be a kick, and just one more thing to enjoy in downtown Westbrook. Thanks for reading the American Journal and be sure to log on to www.keepmecurrent.com, every day for updated news stories, local information, and timely reports.

Walk-A-Bout: Downtown Westbrook