Wimped out.....................

 

...................choose not to walk this morning:

On problem solving..................

Walking, on its own, is already great for your brain. It gets the blood flowing, lowers stress hormones, and makes you look like one of those mysterious, deep thinkers who stride purposefully through parks. But when you pair walking with my powerful “What If” hack, your perambulations transform into something far more powerful.

Here’s how it works:

1.   Start walking. This is the easy part.

2.   Instead of spiraling into despair about your unsolvable problem, introduce a single, magical question: “What if?”

That’s it. Those two words are the key.

-Hugh Gallagher, from here

Lisboa........................

 

Lisbon, Portugal is a mere hour away (by air) from Seville (six hours by car).  Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world.  Located just off the Atlantic Ocean, the city rises steeply from the highly navigable Tagus River.  We didn't give ourselves enough time to do justice to Portugal, but after spending less than 48 hours in Lisbon, we came away thinking it is a mighty fine place.  If you don't mind hills, it is a very walkable city.  Of course, we also took the obligatory tuk-tuk ride, as well as a sailboat cruise on the Tagus.  Lisbon suffered an awful disaster in 1755, with a massive earthquake, followed by a tsunami, followed by fire. In the old part of the city you can clearly tell, by the road patterns, what areas were unaffected by the disaster.  Very interesting city.

The 20-5-3 rule.............................

 

......for experiencing the healing power of nature.

Out walking.......................

 When the cacophony of market doom reaches ear-piercing levels, the best remedy is to go outside and take a walk—by yourself.

-Tony Isola, from here

1,408...................................

 

........................................and counting!

alone but not lonely............

 . . . when I’m walking or biking, I don’t consider being alone with my own thoughts to be a waste of time.

-Arnold Kling, from here  

Deliberately.......................

 His footsteps were a rhythm, a cadence that connected him to the world around him. As he strolled through the quiet streets, he noticed the subtle changes that only the early morning bestowed upon the world – the dew-kissed grass, the soft whispers of the wind, and the occasional song of a waking bird.

-walking with David Kanigan

An evening's stroll through the garden .........

 

Walk....................

 

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.

-Soren Kierkegaard, as quoted here

Field trip..........................

 My Sweetie and I visited the world-class Dawes Arboretum in suburban Newark this afternoon.  A good time was had:

Taking a walk around the yard..........

early bloomers

We love our peonies

A few alliums

Rhododendrens     My favorite plant

These azaleas have been around for a while

My Sweetie has the touch

Next week this will be magnificent

some begonias just hanging around