The Benefits of Walking

[Edwin]

Yes, best wishes for you Sir Michael and your daughter at this time. Yes, Red, that is what the Bible says, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and repentish the earth. Replentish sounds like this earth was populated before, but that is a whole other story. There are all kinds of theories about that. This can be quite philosophical. If we were not here what would the world be like. Once we get here with our families it is very hard to lose any of our family or relative members, and then I think if their parents had not gotten together, or had them, it would be just like they were never here. God gives life to every child that comes into the world, and God has a plan for each one!

[Edwin]

This is very weird because lately a lot of the days we get several inches of snow during the night, and then during the day it all melts off. We got 2 or 3 inches last night, and now at 1 p.m., you would hardly even know that there was snow on the ground. The warm winds takes the snow off quickly when it is warm. We have a slight breeze, not much, and it is fairly warm, so the snow has disappeared. I wonder what the road will be like to walk on. It may still be wet and soft, or it might be more dried and solid. I am going to find out, because it is time for me to go walking!

[Smiley]

We already have people whinning about the heat here. This is a record shattering month for this area.It is too warm for a long sleeve shirt this last week and Im loving it. I`ve always believed that the worst day of summer is better than the best day of winter. Spring is coming and I am ready!

[Edwin]

We didn't have a real winter here this season, but I also like you, Smiley, am ready for spring. Where we live it is still freezing ice at night, and we have been getting snow during the night on several nights. We have a pellet stove which I could burn hotter than I do, but especially now I am trying to make the last few bags of pellets that I have last as long as possible, so that the bill will not come due until next month. In a few days the cutoff for billing will happen, and then if I get them I will not have to pay for them until the first of May instead of the first of April. I will get a ton of them which I think is 50 bags, each bag weighing 40 pounds. They come from Penticton, B.C., Canada. If the wind is not blowing the house is not that cold lately as it warms up during the day. The day that it was the coldest I split some firewood, but I made the mistake of splitting wood right off the ground, and it was moist because of being on the ground, and then I had a hard time getting it to burn. I keep the house cooler than most people do, and then we wear light coats for sweaters in the house. That way I burn fewer pellets, and it doesn't cost as much to heat the house. It is funny because during the winter Carol wants the house to be 70 or more degrees, and she would be happier with 80 degrees, and sometimes we get it that warm when we build a wood fire in the kitchen wood cook stove. In the summer when we are in the car going somewhere she wants the temperature to be down to 60 degrees! I tell her just wait until winter, and it will be easy to get the temperature down to 60 degrees, but that is not what she wants to hear!

[Edwin]

My brother told me years ago that walking is good for your back also. I have never thought too much about that, but I think he is probably correct. There are a lot of good effects to be had from walking. It helps tone your body, so your muscles are better, more lean body tissue instead of more fat content for your body. It is good for heart and lungs, blood and bones, almost all of your body benefits from walking. Last fall the day light hours started getting shorter, so I had to start walking earlier and earlier. Then standard time kicked in and we lost one hours of day light at the end of the day, so I started having to get out earlier and earlier. It got so that 1 p.m., was a good time, and if I did not started walking by 2 p.m. I was in danger of coming back in the dark! Now the days are getting longer, and then day light savings has kicked in, so at this time I can start walking as late as 4 or 4:30, and I still have day light at the end of my walk. In the middle of June I can finish walking at 9:30 or 10 p.m., and I can still see coming back from walking, and that seems strange!

[Smiley]

I like to walk every day. On days that I don`t work I like to walk at least 5 miles. I walk quickly. I walk over a mile to get groceries,The funny thing is I frequently have friends stop and offer me rides,thinking that they are doing me a favor.I love the offer but I need the walking. I don`t plan to ever be fat of out of shape again.

[Edwin]

Most people who live around here are fat, lazy, and out of shape. So, they want a ride where ever they go. When we moved away from here that mentality was part of me. Where we moved I was primarily a driver, running transportation, giving narration, and other odd jobs as well. Many times I would have empty runs as I had provided transportation for someone to a trail head to go hiking, snow shoeing, or skiing, and I was returning empty often times. I was amazed that as I stopped to offer someone a ride they acted as if I had insulted them. They were out there for their health, and I was offering to take that away from them. Now that I am a steady walker myself, every chance I get, I understand their thinking, because now that is the way I think also.

[crisipicada]

It feels good to walk for more than an hour, this has been what I am doing when I am in the barrio. It is good for the cardiovascular system and I am not feeling sleepy for the day if I can walk or exercise.

I use to walk for more than 5 miles, and lately I just do exercise when I am in the apartment. I am sweating a lot lately and it really makes me feel bad and always take shower almost every 3 or 4 hours because of the high temperature.

[Edwin]

Yes, Crisi it is good to walk when a person can. If you can't walk then you substitute walking for some other kind of exercise. I really didn't intend to start walking as it was kind of an accident. When our daughter had trouble a couple of years ago we rescued the kids and the animals, including 2 dogs and a large bird. One of the dogs was a Shitzu, and that poor dog is now in dog heaven. Nice dog, but too old to live forever, so he is resting at the base of the crab apple tree. The other was this Great Swiss Mountain Dog, a cousin of the Saint Bernard. He is the size of a Saint Bernard, but he has finer bones. He is a wonderful dog. Our granddaughter who owns the dog asked me if I would break him to lead. She told me that he was too much for her, which he certainly is. I have been walking that dog ever since. I started out 45 minutes, then I went to 1 hour and 30 minutes, and now I am at two hours or more, and I walk 6.5 miles each day that I can walk which is most every day. I am now glad to be walking although walking was not my intention. Carol should be walking too, but she tells me that walking makes her heart pound when she walks up any kind of incline. We do have some gradual inclines where we do our walking.

Crisi, when it is so hot I'll bet those cool showers help! The heat really bothers Carol, but the cold bothers her too. Spring and Fall has her ideal temperatures.

[Edwin]

I am getting enough exercise digging in my cellar that I wouldn't even need to walk for exercise. I am using a rock bar in concrete like hardpan with rocks and gravel! I am getting tough evidentally because I am able to work harder with fewer breaks. I have only needed to stop to drink water and use the bathroom lately. I work really hard until mid day meal time, then I eat, and I rest a long time, after which I feel like working hard again for a few more hours in the afternoon. Using the bar works me hard, and then I am carrying 2/3 buckets of dirt and rocks out of the hole up a long ramp to dump the dirt in a pile. It has not been hot lately so I have not had to contend with the heat. Then at 6:00 p.m. I take the doggies and go walking for the 6.5 miles which takes give or take 2 hours. The doggies love it, and then it is easy compared to the work I am doing, so it is like a long break. Then there is something that is uplifting about walking. After you walk a spell, you feel like you just don't have any troubles! So I am walking even though I don't need it for exercise lately. I am supposed to have my digging project finished by the 1st of August. At times I have doubted that I would make it, but I am able to work so much harder than I could at first that it seems like I may make my goal after all. It will feel so good to be finished with the digging the 1st of August! My son-in-law is going to help me construct the walls after I finish digging, and that is why I need to be finished by August 1st, so that we can get the concrete work and cinder block laying done before the weather starts frosting and freezing!