Tuesday, June 21

Summer Solstice:  Longest day of the year!

Quote of the Day:  “Live.  Let nothing be lost upon you.  Be afraid of nothing.”  The Picture of Dorian Gray  1945  George Sanders

Exercise Log:  I did 3 miles last night on Stairmaster and it was hard.  Taxol makes the muscles hurt and I could really feel them ache but took a bath later to counteract soreness.  Also, started feeling affects of cold- did too much last weekend!  Jen and I went over to Eastwood trail entrance and back 5.46 miles.  (-3.79)  It was a gorgeous morning.  I knew things were going my way when I spotted a dragonfly on the sidewalk- it was black and white and just waiting for us to see it so it could wish us good luck!  Also, found lucky penny on ground!

I wanted to write a little more about effects of exercise in the great outdoors from Runner’s World.  “‘I’ve seen several clients over the years who were depressed and taking medication and it wasn’t working.  I steered them toward trail running and they became more at peace with themselves and found joy.'”  There may be even more at work here.  A 1996 study showed that negative ions- invisible air molecules released by trees that are know to increase oxygen flow to the brain-  alleviate seasonal depression as effectively as Prozac or Zoloft.”

I am reading a favorite book of mine, again.  It’s called Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury and I like to read it when summer starts.  It reminds me how I felt when I was very young and carefree and summer meant running barefoot in the grass, playing outdoors most of the day and not having one thing to worry about.  The part I read today was where Grandpa explains about the importance of the lawn mower and how the sound of the lawn mower means summer.  He theorizes that “progress is not always necessarily a good thing.  It may be that certain chores, such as mowing the lawn, actually fulfill an important role in our lives…”  But here’s the part I like best.  “Sometimes it is necessary to do something that lets you get away, if just for a moment, from everyone else and to simply be yourself. During that time it becomes possible to truly think for yourself, and Grandpa goes so far as to suggest that it is during these times that people truly philosophize. If there are no answers to many of the big things in life, then our best understandings come from the little things that we do, and Grandpa teaches Bill that if we do not hold on to some of those little things we could become lost among the big issues that are too big for us to handle. This is another way of saying that we should remain close to nature. Because in the end, although we are seemingly in constant battle with nature, we are also an integral part of the natural world. Therefore, if we wish to understand our lives we cannot divorce them entirely from simple things like mowing the lawn, or picking dandelions.”  from Sparks Notes

I love when Grandpa says:  “Gardening is the handiest excuse for being a philosopher.  Nobody guesses, nobody accuses, nobody knows, but there you are, Plato in the peonies, Socrates force-growing his own hemlock…As Samuel Spaulding, Esquire, once said, Dig in the earth, delve in the soul.” from Dandelion Wine.

Black and White Dragonfly