One more week of being in my sucky 40s.  The second half was light years ahead of the first half; still, gotta say they averaged out to darn sucky.

Think of this: it’s not terribly common, but not unheard of, for someone to die of natural causes at my age.  & it’s not terribly common, but not unheard of, for someone to live to 100.  That’s a difference of an entire lifespan.  I could die next week, or I could live another entire life the length of which I’ve already had.

 

College Street.

You can see the new seating area they created for El Cortijo out of a parking space.

Phoenix Books to the left.  The next block to the right with all the lights is the prettiest block in town, I always thought.

Downtown Burlington is good for my soul.

 

 

Us on our anniversary a couple days ago, waiting for Richmond fireworks.

Literally “Swamp of the Cherry River,” Le Marais de la Riviere aux Cerises is a square kilometer or two of marsh, woodland, gravel trail and a boardwalk through the marsh over a kilometer in length.  Alas, walking only; no biking.  Kayaking and standup paddleboarding too.

Speaking of which, “You seem like a stand-up guy.  That’s why I’m not inviting you to my sit-down dinner.”

My

Mary improved the coloring and has kept it bright all these years, but I’m proud to claim the composition as my own!  GOAT!

Smash the Wellness Industry  – a NYT editorial by Jessica Knoll

I’d like to start my commentary by quoting Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey: “[Red hair] is, with me, as with many other redheads, the single most significant characteristic of my life.  If that sounds a little extreme to you, well, you’re obviously not a redhead, are you?”

I am a woman; therefore, I diet.  If that sounds a little extreme to you, well, you’re obviously not a woman, are you?

It’s time we did “Smash the Wellness Industry”.  What does that mean?  Well, make no mistake, as Knoll says, “at its core, ‘wellness’ is about weight loss.”  “Wellness” has now become one of my trigger words/phrases, like “lightly breaded” and “light cream sauce.”  Oh, we are all about health and wellness, that is why we are avoiding dairy and doubling down on grain bowls… yeah right.  You’re trying to lose weight; whether directly and consciously or indirectly by approaching it sideways, you are hoping this will make you thinner, er. more “well”.  (Or keep you that way, if you’re already there.)

The article is fantastic start to finish.  But here’s the other best part – those who do attempt to finally throw the whole dieting thing out the window are often counseled to do so by first accepting and loving their bodies as they are.  Why, Knoll asks?  Why indeed.  “I think loving our bodies is not only an unrealistic goal in our appearance-obsessed society but also a limiting one.  No one is telling men they need to love their bodies to live full and meaningful lives.”

Part of my hopes and dreams as I transition to the big 5-0 involves finally shedding the mentality of the dieter.  Just let the whole thing go.

That said, this should be my final word on the boring subject.