Tag: Health

Walking. And stuck in the moment.

Live & Learn134 Comments

If you are looking for worldly insights, for something new and fresh, move on. And don’t look back. Save 5 minutes of your life doing something productive. Because you ain’t going to Live & Learn here.

Speaking of Blog Mastheads, I’ve been thinking about changing it, after what now, 13 years? To Live & Don’t Learn. It’s closer to reality.

Yesterday. 6:30 pm. 1510 consecutive (almost) days at Cove Island Park. Like in a Row.

I’m now at two-a-day visits to Cove Island Park.  Daybreak for the morning walk. And late afternoon/evening to try to rid of the disgust for gaining 14 lbs in less than 60 days. This outcome was due to three factors: (a) the suspension of my 18 hour fasts, (b) suspension of snacks after 6 pm, and (c) just suspending all common sense.

Culprit? This time?

Oui French Style Coconut Yogurt.

And you might ask: Well, how bad can that be?

And I would say, not so bad, until you start adding the toppings. Think Dairy Queen Sundae.

Continue reading “Walking. And stuck in the moment.” →

That’s my diagnosis

Live & Learn16 Comments

That’s my diagnosis. My prescription might be simple: be kind to each other, remembering the distress we’ve all lived through; defend the facts with ardor; fight fascism and climate chaos in the ways you’re best equipped to (and if you’re lucky, that will connect you to other good people doing that crucial work). And if you’re lonely know that even in that you’re not alone; millions are, in large part because of how our world got rearranged. But diagnosis is the first step of treatment or cure, and just talking about how personal the impact is of this chaotic new era matters.

— Rebecca Solnit, from “Trump, Covid, the climate crisis – we’ve had a hard few years. The wounds linger.” (The Guardian, June 4, 2024)

Walking. With Ellie.

Live & Learn83 Comments

Good morning from Connecticut. Today, makes it 1,467 consecutive (almost) days on this daybreak morning walk at Cove Island Park. Like in a Row.

We were primed for another rant following last week’s diatribe: “Ladies Give Me Your Best Shot.” All the targeted Ladies (aka Sawsan) went scurrying back to her Den (with her Broom). Her replacement, while not an total embarrassment, is on her way to earning that merit badge shortly.

So, there’s one Lady left standing. I asked Susan if I can share more specifics about her OCD, that being her neuroses with light switches at the top and bottom of the stairs. Wally and I got a hostile reaction, and decided that this was a red line not to be tested.

I walk, wandering, ruminating. What shall we blog about today? Is it…

  • How I gained 10 lbs in 10 days? (Cake!)
  • How my insomnia has progressively deteriorated during the same period? (Cake?)
  • Why my Doctored-ordered Glucose test (a pre-diabetic alert) reported an alarming upward trend? (Cake?)

I walk.

I noodle these issues (and others), feeling the weight of their drag.

Continue reading “Walking. With Ellie.” →

Walking. High on Sucralose.

Live & Learn69 Comments

I walk.

1055 consecutive (almost) days on this daybreak walk at Cove Island Park. Like in a row.

43° F. Spring is in the air.  Heavy fog is lifting.  A runner, a pair of kayakers, the ever present Canada Geese to remind me where I came from, and me.

I walk.

I circle back walking the wind swept shoreline, and there are my footprints, my Heavy imprints.

“You’ve gained a few pounds since your last annual physical.” We’re both masked, she’s looking at me, and my eyes lock in on hers. I don’t bite on the “few pounds” slight, I know exactly how much weight I’ve gained, and I wouldn’t describe it as “few.”

“Could it be triggered by the medication I’ve been taking since December?”

“No chance of that,” she says, the response coming way too fast and way too confident.

There’s a moment or two of silence, my body temperature surging, I’m broiling in shame. I don’t respond. Continue reading “Walking. High on Sucralose.” →

And then, there’s the Tuesday Morning Wake-Up Call

Live & Learn23 Comments

We compartmentalized the stress and ongoing trauma, flattening it into something survivable, but we nonetheless ate it for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner. We swam in that stress. We slept in it. We swallowed it in gulps. We lived through it, and we told ourselves stories of resilience, because what other choice did we have.

But the body is bad at pretending. It keeps the damn score.

— Anne Helen Petersen, from “That’s a Stress Response. All the ways your body is (still) reactions to the pandemic.” (Culture Study, June 1, 2022)