So, three thoughts to share this morning.

One is that winter is upon us.
Chore of dressing aside, we can dress for this weather.
The wind isn’t making the cold much worse.
No precipitation.
So winter is on us, but not with a vengeance.
Let’s hope Mother Nature leaves vengeance to the Lord.

I’ve finished reading “My Brilliant Friend.”
Why was I not surprised at the brilliance of the ending?
Reading the last few pages, realizing where the author was taking us, and uttering, “Wow!” and in a moment, “Wow!”
Much to the disgust of others in the café sitting near enough to me to listen.
Have just begun the second of the four, the two girls now nearing or into their twenties.
What fun.

I’m on a paper recycling kick.
Instead of buying 4x6 pads for notes to myself, I’ve taken to using the backsides of my 8x11 discards.
Sometimes I fold them in half and tear.
Then folding the halves in half and tearing again.
Something pleasurable about the ripping, the sound of it, the feel of it.
Might continue to rip sheets even if not adding them to my notepaper pile.
Even when cleaning up the dining room to prepare for a dinner party, I leave the pile of notepaper in a place where eventually it will be spotted by one of the guests who will ask, “What’s that pile,” giving me the opportunity to boast, “I’m recycling.”
Me, the hero.

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Tagging Today
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
My 244th consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
Time is 12.01am.
Boston’s temperature will reach a high of    with a feels like of     with sun and clouds.

Dinner is

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Question of the Day:
Why walk?

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Love your notes.
Contact me @ domcapossela@hotmail.com

From Marc:

What a sweet story about you and Toni-Lee dating. I didn’t know you both went and met at BU. I’d love to read more about that someday.

M.

Web Meister Responds: Be careful of what you wish!

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Short Takes: City Life
Winter Garb
This birch, left photo, seemed to me to be shimmering. Sent from the heavens to stir me.
Just to the right of the birch photo, the willow, thinned out, still looked stunning.
Hey! Lauren! Get off those ducks.
On the far right, this building is directly across from my apartment and I have admired its Christmas attire for decades.
Delighted to shoot and share it.

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Answer to Question:
Any walking is good for us.
Certainly.
Any kind of movement is better than none. 

However, let’s not delude ourselves.
Between a walk and a stroll is a chasm.
We stroll.
We move idly.
Forward. Or on a diagonal. Stepping off to the right or left.
Righting ourselves.
Stopping to watch a bird.
Admire the sun.
A stroll implies lethargy, a step forward of somnolent.
While that probably does some good to a stay-at-home, accept it for what it is.
Not much.
Hardly an introduction to a walk. 

At least a walk implies movement at a regular pace.
Perhaps unhurried, but regular.
Lift a foot, push it forward, set it down, pick up the other foot.
Even lifting weights, regularity is sometimes more important than weight moved.
Maybe we’d like to slow down or take a rest, but now we wouldn’t be walking.
And if we walk for an extended length, we’re doing something tangibly healthful. 

Of course, if our health is our primary concern then let’s go for power walking. 

Power walking or speed walking is the act of walking with a speed at the upper end of the natural range for the walking gait, typically 7 to 9 km/h (4.5 to 5.5 mph).
Power walking differs from jogging or running in that at least one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times. 

But here I offer this caution, as I do with weight lifting.
We should maximize the results of our efforts not by measuring against any other standard but our own internal.

Power walking for me is walking as fast as I can while achieving a measurable length of space or length of time.
It really is not a question of ‘failing’ by not walking 4.5 to 5.5 mph. a natural walking speed.
The speed we walk at has no importance.
Nor does the distance we go.

The essence of power walking is walking as hard as we can for as long as we can.
We may only make a quarter of a mile at a speed of 2.0 mph.
But that first is the important step.
That sets our standard.
Because we set it by actually doing it, we can achieve that today, tomorrow, and the next day.

And if we do it every day?
On the fourth day we will walk a quarter of a mile and 100 feet.
And we will plop in our easy chair with a big smile.
Our walking is showing results we measure against ourselves.

A MEDICAL TAKE, wiki, of course.
Regular, brisk exercise of any kind can improve confidence, stamina, energy, weight control and life expectancy and reduce stress.
It can also reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure, bowel cancer and osteoporosis.
Scientific studies have also shown that walking, besides its physical benefits, is also beneficial for the mind, improving memory skills, learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning, as well as ameliorating spirits.
Sustained walking sessions for a minimum period of thirty to sixty minutes a day, five days a week, with the correct walking posture, reduce health risks and have various overall health benefits, such as reducing the chances of cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, anxiety disorder and depression.
Life expectancy is also increased even for individuals suffering from obesity or high blood pressure. Walking also improves bone health, especially strengthening the hip bone, and lowering the harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and raising the useful high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
Studies have found that walking may also help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's fact sheet on the "Relationship of Walking to Mortality Among U.S. Adults with Diabetes" states that those with diabetes who walked for 2 or more hours a week lowered their mortality rate from all causes by 39 per cent.
"Walking lengthened the life of people with diabetes regardless of age, sex, race, body mass index, length of time since diagnosis, and presence of complications or functional limitations."
It has been suggested that there is a relationship between the speed of walking and health, and that the best results are obtained with a speed of more than 2.5 mph.

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Good morning on this Wednesday, December 12, Christmas now 13 days away.
Today we talked about My Brilliant Friend, winter’s non-blustery arrival, and paper recycling.
We saw some photos of winter garb in the city and we discussed walking.

Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?

See you soon.

Love

Dom