Notes From The Field

A walk in nature is good for your physical health but it’s equally important for your mental health. I especially like walking alone when I can allow the stream of my consciousness to flow at will.

Yesterday morning took me to my favorite local bike path. It starts in a state park, hugging the shore of a lake before veering off into a nearby town. It’s about six miles round trip.

I walked four but my mind wandered a million miles off path.

It was 73 degrees with a swift breeze that rustled the leaves and created waves across the lake. The path was sun dappled through the canopy in places while it positively beat down in others where no trees provide shelter. It made me sad to think of all the people who live in places with no trees.

Can you truly be happy without the magnificence of nature nearby? My friend Johnna lives in Wyoming and often sounds emotional when talking about how green Ohio is and how rare it is to see trees in the high plains where she has made her home.

That made me think about Johnna, how I miss my friend and how we need to get busy planning our fall western adventure. If I intend to visit all fifty states in this lifetime, I also need to get busy with those plans. There’s a huge swath of this country that I have not seen.

This reminded me of a recent conversation with a man who claimed to be an avid international traveler but who doesn’t believe there’s anything worth seeing in the United States. Maybe he would like to see Yellowstone but the rest is a boring waste.

I didn’t even have a response to that. Our nation is huge, the geography varied and the people who make it home have created magnificent places worthy of our time and attention. This is probably where I began humming “America the Beautiful” and reliving my first desert sunrise.

Most of all, I felt sorry for him. What a boring life it would be to find your own country passé and dull. Maybe I’m easily entertained but I have walked this same bike path for twenty years and continue to find wonderful changes in nature each day. I’m grateful for these small gifts.

This person clearly is not part of my tribe.

It was here that I found myself somewhere between summer and fall. It was only August 1 but cool in the shade and the locusts were noisily buzzing as leaves of all varieties swirled and drifted lazily in the breeze.

I couldn’t help but wonder what our fall will look like. It’s been a little lackluster the last few years as the high temperatures have caused the leaves to just dry up and fall before they can even change colors.

A world without fall seems unimaginable to me. What a glorious season where a bright blue sky provides a vibrant backdrop for the brilliant reds, yellows, oranges and browns along the hills. A light jacket will suffice and a cute scarf and hat will pull together any outfit. Accessories make the season, after all.

Cider and donuts will give you a sugar high and bonfire smoke drifts through the air most nights. It’s my favorite season and one that’s far too brief.

There’s a downed tree in the edge of the lake where you will often see a number of turtles sunning themselves. There were none yesterday but I recalled a story from earlier this week. It was about some boys who have devoted their summer to helping turtles cross a busy road. If you’re like me, your faith in humanity could use a little boost. This tale of kids volunteering to help these small creatures that can offer no payment in return is just what I needed. Click here to read it now.

Sadly, sometime in the last few days someone defaced my favorite rock at the park. Yes, I have a favorite rock and now it is covered in idiotic graffiti.

There were two family reunions underway by the time I left. A handful of people were cooking out, gliding along the lake in boats and standing along the shore with their fishing poles. There were shockingly few people on the bike path and I was glad for the solace.

I helped my parents prepare for a family reunion on Saturday. I am what they call an empath, meaning that I recognize people’s emotions better than most and have a bad habit of absorbing them as well. This makes many situations, particularly crowded ones, anxiety inducing.

So I needed this walk to help me recharge. By the time I got back to the car my mind felt much calmer and I was pleased that I had prioritized my own wellness with this walk.

We all need to do that sometimes. We deserve the break. After all, if we don’t make time to be healthy, we’ll be forced to make time to be sick later.

Winter Walk

I walked with a friend at a local park yesterday.

It was a beautiful day for a long walk at a familiar place.

I always say the official mascot here is the Canada Geese. Yesterday didn’t disappoint. They were everywhere.

Between this walk and some shopping, my Fitbit logged about nine miles. That’s not half bad for a day of leisure!

When Your Body Asks For A Break

There are some lessons that bear repeating.

1. The emotionally unavailable man will never change, not even for you.

2. It is impossible to open a package of Oreos and eat just one. You have to do an entire row or none at all.

3. Your body deserves better than you likely give it in an average day.

There are more but these are the big three.

I seem to swing between being ultra aware and responsive to what my body needs or I tune it out altogether. For the last couple of weeks, I have ignored my body as it has screamed for more rest, less stress, better food and much needed quiet.

I have this inner voice that’s constantly pushing me to keep going when I don’t want to, that tricks me into not hopping on the treadmill when I know exercise would be invigorating, and that tells me to eat the fries because that’s what I really want even though I know I’ll be sluggish tomorrow.

Meanwhile, my body is asking for a break, begging for good nutrition, movement and rest. And I ignore it.

I rely on my body to get me through the day. It takes me everywhere I need to go even when I’m mean to it. It has never failed me but I fail it all the time.

How to do better? That’s the $64,000 question.

This week has been stressful and tiring. Healthy eating, exercise and stress management are really just a pipe dream, something to be put off until the weekend when I undoubtedly will crash.

We all go through times like this and the best we can do is the best we can do. I’m trying hard to remember that good choices breed more good choices and that what I do to my body today will effect how I feel tomorrow.

I know that I’m approaching a breaking point when I simultaneously want to run away on a trip and also hide in my quiet house with a package of cookies.

A trip may be in my future but the cookies will not.

For today, I’ll just keep pushing forward and make the best decisions possible. And then tomorrow, I’ll wake up and do it again.

Things will be better soon.

A Mile Shy Of Laramie Peak

One goal for my western adventure was to climb Laramie Peak. Once a landmark for weary travelers along the Oregon Trail, today it is a popular area for recreation as part of the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming.

There is a nice hiking trail up the 10,274 foot mountain and Johnna and I were stoked to climb it. It’s about five miles up so we set out with packs full of water and supplies but felt no sense of urgency as the forecast was for blue skies all day.

This was the view early in the day.

Lovely, isn’t it? The sky was blue and clear, punctuated with puffy white clouds that my friend calls “Simpson’s Clouds.” It was the perfect day for a long hike.

Around mile three, we started running into rain showers. Just a little drizzle but we could see that a dark cloud was settling over us.

At mile four, the sky turned ominous and the rain picked up.

And then came the wind: wind so powerful that it sounded like a train coming up the mountain and so strong that it could knock you over.

The terrain turns rockier as you near the top, making travel treacherous when the ground and rocks are wet. There’s no cell service here and we saw just one house in the vicinity after traveling for miles without seeing another living soul – even at the campground.

In other words, it would be a long, lonely trip down the mountain to run for help for your friend should someone get hurt. And the rescue undoubtedly would involve a helicopter ride.

We discussed continuing on with our journey and considered sheltering in place if we could find somewhere safe. We had seen a number of natural rock ledges and shelters along the way but none were in sight in that last leg of the journey.

Ultimately, we abandoned our plan and headed back down the mountain toward safety.

It was the right thing to do, even if we were disappointed to abandon our goal. But there will be other trips and other mountains. And we still got in an eight mile hike which isn’t too shabby.

It was a friendly reminder that plans don’t always work out and that sometimes circumstances simply get in the way. We made the best of the day anyway and celebrated eight miles rather than be sad we didn’t make it to ten.

That’s a pretty nice victory too!

 

 

A Break in the Weather

Winter in southern Ohio has been interrupted by a few days of warmer temperatures this week. Wednesday was sunny and sixty degrees. Tuesday wasn’t quite that warm but the sunshine made it feel better.

So for the last few days I’ve walked at lunch and after work, soaking up the rays and enjoying a good stretch of the legs. After all, we know it won’t last so it’s a good idea to take advantage of it while we can.

Believe it or not, the above image is in the village where I work- the road through the cemetery winds along a hill, perfect for getting the heart pounding! And, in case you’re wondering, that hill is much bigger than it looks in the picture.

I would much rather be on a hike in the woods but this is a nice alternative when that’s not an option. Sometimes we just have to do the best we can with what we have and be glad for it.

Recommitting To Myself

I’m not a huge fan of the New Year’s Resolution. Maybe it’s because I believe every day is a perfect time to commit to doing something that’s necessary or good. Maybe it’s because I see how quickly most people fail with their resolutions. It takes at least a month of commitment to form a new habit. Sadly it takes one bad decision and about five minutes to revert back to our old ways. Then discouragement sets in and before we know it, we’re waiting for next January 1 to repeat the process.

Last spring, my beautiful friend Sarah introduced me to the Whole 30. It’s designed to help kick a sugar addiction and it’s an elimination diet to help folks with health issues figure out their allergies or other food related problems. For me, it became more of a lifestyle to stave off sugar cravings, lose weight, have increased energy and greater mental focus. I even found that food was causing some mild Rosacea like symptoms.

I quickly learned that I am happier when I eat whole foods and avoid heavily processed stuff. 

It’s a real commitment to be a Whole 30 Pescaterian. It’s a lot of cooking and most convenience food is off the table because it’s packed with sugar and all sorts of nasties you can’t pronounce and probably shouldn’t digest. For most Whole 30’ers, the prospect of eating in a restaurant is enough to incite panic. In other words, it’s a commitment and a challenge. And unlike most diets, if you make a mistake today, you don’t just pick up and go on tomorrow. You go back to day one with every slip up. So if your goal is to just get through the thirty days, it’s stressful when you’re new or when you’re trying to eat on the go.

Like I said, I have achieved a place of lifestyle where I try to stick with it as much as possible but am not bound so tightly by the rules of being on a thirty day round. This healthier diet gave me more energy for hiking, working out and going on adventures. After a few months of being really strict, I gave myself a season of leniency – more or less to see what my tendencies are, what my weaknesses are and what I do if given some leeway.

Turns out, my weaknesses and natural tendencies are appalling.

So today I start a new Whole 30 round and recommit to some of the lifestyle choices that made me so happy last year – drink lots of water, fuel my body with good food, get outdoors when possible, hike a lot, read good books, listen to amazing music, write daily, and surround myself with people and things that make me happy.

I’m also doing a reset on my budget. The holidays and poor self control on this last road trip tell me that I simply cannot be trusted with food, money or anything else. Ha, ha… ahem.

So, I’m not making a resolution. Instead, I’m making conscious decisions to recommit to what’s good for me and to what’s really important.

If you are among the many today who are committing to a resolution, here’s my advice – PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!!! Write out your strategies, write down what you’re doing, study your choices and reward yourself for good performance.

If your goal is to cut spending so you can pay off a credit card, you would need to make a budget, write down every penny you spend, study your spending habits and chart your progress as the credit card balance decreases. Then periodically reward yourself with something special but not necessarily something that costs money. Maybe you invite a friend over for coffee or take a long, hot bubble bath. If you have kiddos, plan a picnic at a local park.

You get the idea.

Whatever you do, remember that the thing you want – the slimmer body, the fatter bank account, the life without cigarettes, or whatever it is – you can work toward every day of the year. You don’t need a calendar or a silly annual tradition to make it happen. You WILL need some elbow grease and a commitment to make it reality.

I have my plan together and I have a goal to be good to myself. And really, my friends, what’s better than committing to being kind to yourself?

Best wishes with your resolutions or goals or whatever it is you call them. Go forth and conquer every day this year! Let’s make 2019 our best year yet!