For the last three months, I’ve tried to take a walk around Selma every day. I’ve been able to do it most days and I take the same route every time. I walk through Old Town, past ArtsRevive and the Times-Journal on Water Avenue to Riverfront Park.

I go around the park, walk down past Reliable Cadillac GMC and then cut through Washington Street before finishing up at my house. Every time I take my dog and I think he enjoys it as much as I do.

Walking around Selma is one of my favorite parts about living here. There’s so many places to walk, so many buildings to see, and it’s a great way to see what’s going on around downtown.

It’s a tradition that we continue when family comes to town. Next weekend we’ll have a lot of family here in Selma, and we’re planning a walk with the whole group. When family visits, they enjoy hearing about the latest developments around Selma and to learn about all the history.

The only part of the walks I don’t enjoy is all the glass on the sidewalk around town. During my walk, there’s four or five spots where glass is shattered all over the sidewalk, and I have to pull on my dog’s leash to make sure he doesn’t cut himself. I can’t even imagine having small children with me — like I will in the future — in those instances. By now, I know where all of the glass is on my route and I simply do my best to avoid it.

There’s a spot on Water Avenue, near Arsenal Place, one on Washington Street near the School of Discovery and tons on Furniss Avenue near the Broad Street intersection. Every day, it seems like there’s another spot where a window has broken or a glass bottle has been tossed out of a window.

I usually just cross the road to walk on the other side, but it’s still a pain.

I’ve considered taking a broom around on my walk and sweeping up the glass myself and I probably should. If not, my complaining wouldn’t mean a whole lot.

There are plenty of groups around town that have done a lot more than that and have made a real difference in Selma.

Litter Free in Ward 3 is meeting this upcoming weekend to clean up starting at the parking lot across from the Vaughan Smitherman Building.

Keep it Clean, Selma has done a lot of great work over the years, meeting around the city once a month to pick up trash.

Those are great movements that are making a real difference in our community. The people volunteering their time to pick up trash are great role models for the rest of us, but it’d also be nice if everyone could pick up after themselves, instead of littering the streets.

It’d make Selma a better place to live and it’d keep visitors’ focus on our city’s historic buildings instead of on trash and litter.