Musings: Some Random Observations About Life, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

One of the advantages of walking a lot for exercise is that it is possible to think at the same time - usually.  While I wander around and try to create something - photos, text, stories, snippets for this blog - random thoughts about life often intrude and I scribble a note to myself - I am old school and use paper and pen. 

For example, today I was thinking about fitness - as a 62-year old male with heart disease, I have learned to focus on taking better care of my health (wish I had started when I was 20). Exercise, diet, and lifestyle are always under my control. If I don't keep fit, the rest of life doesn't matter very much.

I have decided that for every 10,000-step daily quota that I achieve, I get to add another day onto my lifespan - seems like a good idea, whether it is true or not.

It takes 120 steps to climb up off the beach. I look forward to it as cardio exercise instead of drudgery.  If I can stay fit, perhaps I can keep the grim reaper at bay a few more years.

A a young kid, most boys in my neighborhood dreamed of being a policeman, fireman, airline pilot, baseball player or heavy equipment operator - even now, who can resist the appeal of the "mighty claw."  Superhuman strength of comic book proportion - does the thrill ever leave? 

And speaking of kids, these trees remind me of my youth.  I climbed pine trees as a young boy.  I'd perch near the top and listen to the wind whispering through the needles, feeling the swaying of the trunk in the breeze, and dream the dreams of boys everywhere - to drive fire trucks, catch bad guys, fly fighter planes, be a sports star, or be a super-hero performing feats of super-human strength.  And when I'd climb down, my hands were covered with pine sap which I would carelessly smear on inappropriate surfaces. Ah, youth.

The wind has stopped.  The temperature is that rare number when you can't really tell where your body ends and the air begins - they meld into the same thing.  Perfect comfort.

People write for different reasons.  Many of the things I say in these blog posts are written to give voice to otherwise fleeting thoughts of some note. For example, I've been thinking about joy - how to induce more - if there isn't enough joy in my life then it is up to me to create more - it's that simple - joy isn't bestowed on me by others - it's in my attitude.   

Maybe I should just get a dog so I can talk to him/her instead of publishing these ramblings.

(Note: all images made with cellphone).