Fourth Day of Light

 

Despite just awful weather recently, I've still managed to keep to my every-other-day walking schedule. Just about this whole month of July has been oppressively humid here in Georgia, making exercising outdoors even more of a challenge, and all the moisture in the air has resulted in afternoon rain and/or thunderstorms. But each time, I've managed to start my walk early enough to get back home before the rain began, sometimes with mere minutes to spare, and was only caught out in the rain once (and it was a light rain at that).

I know it doesn't amuse anybody but me, but my cumulative walking mileage (393 miles) is equivalent to the straight-line distance from my front door to Bloomington, Indiana.

Oh, Bloomington. Back in the early autumn of 1972, I was on a cross-country adventure with some friends. Our car broke down somewhere in central Pennsylvania and we hitch-hiked from there, eventually arriving on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. We came across a church group offering free hot dogs and lemonade, and I politely asked a church lady if the food was for the public or Indiana students only.  

"We're not allowed to turn anyone away," the church lady sneered, "but if you're gonna eat we'd appreciate your taking your packs and stuff off downwind so that flies don't get in the food." Despite her rudeness, we ate there anyway and before too long, one long-haired student who called himself "Roach" told us that the students there were all jocks and rednecks, and led us to a relatively quiet and safe spot where we were able to eat in peace.

Many, many years later (2006), I attended an intensive and intense Zen meditation retreat in Bloomington: Fifty minutes of sitting meditation and 10 minutes of walking every hour for 12 straight hours for four days. It was mind-bending. Afterwards, when I finally reconnected back to my phone and the world, I found a message from my sister telling me that my father had died, and she'd been trying to reach me for days.

Those are my two Bloomington stories.

Back in the here and now, my weight continues to drop as I keep walking. Yesterday, I was below 190 pounds (189.6) for the first time since, well, forever ago.  That's 30 pounds lost in four months. People have noticed the change, and I can feel it. Of course, I'm doing this not to lose weight per se, but to reduce my blood glucose and lower my A1C to avoid diabetes. My next scheduled blood test is on 9/11 and I'll know then if my diet and exercise have been successful.      

Wish me luck.