Finished Day 20, More on Global Warming
Yesterday was Day 20 of my latest effort to begin anew with regular exercise. I decided to mark the occasion with a long walk. I did the walk which was my regular walk and then jog for many years. I leave my house and walk a little over a mile to the lake, around the lake, and back home. That walk is almost exactly 5 miles and I knew would be a stretch for me at this point in my life but I did it. That brought me up to 18 days of exercise out of the past 20 and it felt great.
One of the main parts I like about my long walk is that I get to walk around the lake without driving to walk. I don't mind driving to walk when it's an outing with Bill or I'm meeting another friend but in terms of my regular daily solo walking, something about the idea of driving to walk bothers me in terms of energy usage. I also have so many alternate walks without driving to walk. The closest greenway trail is less than a 1/2 a mile from my house. Once I get to the lake trail if I go that far, there are many variations and alternates. The biggest problem with walking to walk is if I'm only walking 2 to 3 miles, I can't walk around the lake which I enjoy. Therefore, I'm hoping my energy will be sufficient to do the 5 mile walk at least once a week.
I was very tired after my 5 mile walk but didn't have much extra pain. Minor additional pain in my left leg which is the one with some lymphedema but nothing major. Perhaps the most encouraging part is later in the afternoon when I realized I needed to pick up a few things at my corner pharmacy, I was able to go on the short walk there. When I say short, I mean short because it's only 2 short blocks from my house. There is no excuse for me to ever drive there. I walked there within a week of my lymph node dissection when my leg was still fresh from surgery years ago. However, as close as it is, if I hadn't made the decision to walk to run errands as much as possible as an energy conservation measure, I'm sure after my 5 mile exercise walk I would have driven there. I had to walk slowly but I was fine. This morning I'm feeling pretty good too.
Saturday is earth hour and I wanted to mention an article related to global warming. Dee who blogs at Dee's Updates sent me an article which I found very interesting and is directly related to global warming. The city of Kivalina and the native village of Kivalina filed suit this month against the oil and energy producers over their huge greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Kivalina, located north of Kotzebue on the tip of a six-mile barrier reef between the Chukchi Sea and Wulik River, is home to 399 people. “Kivalina residents are Inupiat Eskimo whose ancestors occupied the area since time immemorial. Global warming is destroying Kivalina and the village must be relocated soon or be abandoned and cease to exist,” reads the complaint. You can read the whole article at the link I provided but I thought I'd mention that part of the complaint is this - The plaintiffs allege that not only did the companies increase their greenhouse gas emissions, but engaged in a conspiracy, spearheaded by ExxonMobil, to discredit and distort scientific facts of global warming.
Coincidentally, I was reading through the Nature Conservancy resources on Climate Change which is well worth checking out, and I stumbled on a 2003 article which mentioned the Inupiat Eskimos and how they were watching their world melt beneath them. It is very sad and an example of how the repercussions of global warming involve devastating loss. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has a very succinct page on global warming basics which gives a very good overview of the issues, and challenges facing us.
I am going to cut off my computer Friday night and keep it off until Sunday as a symbolic gesture. I am trying to add conservation measures to my daily routine but also as part of my Earth hour participation, I'm not turning my computer or TV on at all on Saturday. Therefore, unless I do an early photohunt post Friday, this will be my last post until Sunday. I almost always post my photohunt post on Friday but since I won't be able to visit photohunters on Saturday, I'm thinking I may skip this week. I like to come up with a post for the theme every week because it's fun so we'll see.
Yesterday was Day 20 of my latest effort to begin anew with regular exercise. I decided to mark the occasion with a long walk. I did the walk which was my regular walk and then jog for many years. I leave my house and walk a little over a mile to the lake, around the lake, and back home. That walk is almost exactly 5 miles and I knew would be a stretch for me at this point in my life but I did it. That brought me up to 18 days of exercise out of the past 20 and it felt great.
One of the main parts I like about my long walk is that I get to walk around the lake without driving to walk. I don't mind driving to walk when it's an outing with Bill or I'm meeting another friend but in terms of my regular daily solo walking, something about the idea of driving to walk bothers me in terms of energy usage. I also have so many alternate walks without driving to walk. The closest greenway trail is less than a 1/2 a mile from my house. Once I get to the lake trail if I go that far, there are many variations and alternates. The biggest problem with walking to walk is if I'm only walking 2 to 3 miles, I can't walk around the lake which I enjoy. Therefore, I'm hoping my energy will be sufficient to do the 5 mile walk at least once a week.
I was very tired after my 5 mile walk but didn't have much extra pain. Minor additional pain in my left leg which is the one with some lymphedema but nothing major. Perhaps the most encouraging part is later in the afternoon when I realized I needed to pick up a few things at my corner pharmacy, I was able to go on the short walk there. When I say short, I mean short because it's only 2 short blocks from my house. There is no excuse for me to ever drive there. I walked there within a week of my lymph node dissection when my leg was still fresh from surgery years ago. However, as close as it is, if I hadn't made the decision to walk to run errands as much as possible as an energy conservation measure, I'm sure after my 5 mile exercise walk I would have driven there. I had to walk slowly but I was fine. This morning I'm feeling pretty good too.
Saturday is earth hour and I wanted to mention an article related to global warming. Dee who blogs at Dee's Updates sent me an article which I found very interesting and is directly related to global warming. The city of Kivalina and the native village of Kivalina filed suit this month against the oil and energy producers over their huge greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Kivalina, located north of Kotzebue on the tip of a six-mile barrier reef between the Chukchi Sea and Wulik River, is home to 399 people. “Kivalina residents are Inupiat Eskimo whose ancestors occupied the area since time immemorial. Global warming is destroying Kivalina and the village must be relocated soon or be abandoned and cease to exist,” reads the complaint. You can read the whole article at the link I provided but I thought I'd mention that part of the complaint is this - The plaintiffs allege that not only did the companies increase their greenhouse gas emissions, but engaged in a conspiracy, spearheaded by ExxonMobil, to discredit and distort scientific facts of global warming.
Coincidentally, I was reading through the Nature Conservancy resources on Climate Change which is well worth checking out, and I stumbled on a 2003 article which mentioned the Inupiat Eskimos and how they were watching their world melt beneath them. It is very sad and an example of how the repercussions of global warming involve devastating loss. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has a very succinct page on global warming basics which gives a very good overview of the issues, and challenges facing us.
I am going to cut off my computer Friday night and keep it off until Sunday as a symbolic gesture. I am trying to add conservation measures to my daily routine but also as part of my Earth hour participation, I'm not turning my computer or TV on at all on Saturday. Therefore, unless I do an early photohunt post Friday, this will be my last post until Sunday. I almost always post my photohunt post on Friday but since I won't be able to visit photohunters on Saturday, I'm thinking I may skip this week. I like to come up with a post for the theme every week because it's fun so we'll see. 
14 comments:
Congratulations on walking 18 out of 20 days! And for walking to run your errands. I'd like to get to that point. At the moment, I settle for driving my son to school and then walking 10-12 minutes to my office. This gets me exercise and also saves me money for parking on campus. It would take me just as long to drive to a parking lot, find a space, and then walk to my office.
Thank you for calling attention to both World Water Day and also to Earth Hour and the articles on global warming. It will be the little things that make a difference, I think!
Thanks Dee and I agree that the little things do make a difference. Walking 10-12 minutes between your son's school and work is great.
I'm in an ideal situation to try to make changes because I work from my home computer which gives me flexibility most of the time. When work gets extra busy or I have to go to the office, I won't always be able to do some of the things I'm trying now. Also, fatigue may be a factor for me at times. But I am trying to shift my thinking towards doing as much as I can and then not worry about what I can't do some days.
Some very beautiful photos, Carver! Congrats on your walking regimen.
Well done for reaching 20 days. I will be switching off a light on Saturday for the Earth Hour as I believe every little bit helps. See you (or I should say your blog)next week.
Thanks Mary (The Teach), I appreciate that.
Thanks Starnitesky and that's cool that you will be doing the earth hour too.
Hello Carver Person,
I like to go on long walks too. It is in fact my favorite thing right behind eating, sleeping and having a chewie. We walk to the Dog Park fom TinyCondo where we now reside about twice a week. After some water, we often rest under the benches and then snoop and say hello to the People. My sister, AbbeyDog, is very friendly to Other Dogz. I am not as I grow impatient with the their sniffing of my nether areas. I tell them so with a very smart growl. I sent a Rottie packing just this morning!
It is great news that you felt so well after walking. The round trip for us is 4 miles, so we are very tired for the rest of the day too.
It would be so nice if you could come and walk with us sometime...we are strictly recreational walkers, though. The lack of opposable thumbs limits our ability to be terribly handy at turning off lights. We try not to use much water as we both hate baths. Blegh. I suppose we could chase down a rabbit to save on food, but we live with a couple of vegetarians. So that effort would be wasted.
And what I really like to conserve is my energy.
But still I remain,
A VERY GOOD DOG.
Love, Emma
The secret compartment of my ring I fill, with an Underdog super energy pill.
-UnderDog
Dear EmmaDog, Thank you so much for commenting on my blog. I wish we lived closer and I could walk with you and your sister and your KimPerson. I can understand you not liking being sniffed by strange dogs. That seems a bit personal to me too. Love, CarverPerson
that's definitely a good start! i hope i can do the same. been longing to exercise again although i sometimes walk long paths but still, making it a habit is different. good for you.
Thanks "The Dong", I appreciate your comment and visit.
hi, Carver. Lovely scenery, and you got me interested in Earth Hour some time ago. I will poweroff soon, and not be back until sometime tomorrow. Thanks for your shots of the beautiful earth and reminders that we must work to save it. ~~Jocelyn
Thanks Jocelyn, I hope you enjoyed your power off time as much as I did. It was a very pleasant Saturday for me.
My seminar professor is really into climate change and he's trying to get the UN to take more of a role. He actually had a lot to do with some of the environmental treaties, but let's hope that the climate change stuff works... for someone in his eighties, he's still pretty active with the whole human rights community. Maybe I'll be like that one day, haha.
Hi Judith, I think that's great about your professor. I have no doubt that whatever you do it will be done with great sensitivity and intellect. Far more than I have. Love, Mom
I have deleted a long anonymous comment. For the record, I didn't delete it for saying I was a joke. I am fine with that. I agree that any effort I make isn't going to make a difference. In terms of global warming, all of these events be they earth day, earth hour, etc. are primarily to try to keep issues out in the open. Also, I heard a show which said that global warming is largely an issue that the politicians have to see that people care about in order for them to legislate in ways that will help with the problem. I agree with that, and it's part of why I participate but anything I do is miniscule and I could always do so much more.
The reason I deleted the comment wasn't because of the end where it may have been ridiculing me. I almost left it up because of that. The problem was it was a very long piece where hate in general was spewed out and I couldn't do more than skim because it was so long and so filled with venom. I didn't want the comment section of my blog to be used for that purpose. Especially since I didn't have time to analyze it line by line. In general I want anyone and everyone to feel free to comment on my blog and I will normally keep up criticism of me. The only direct criticism of me was perhaps 1 percent of the whole.
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