Monday Morning Musings

Posted on September 21, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

The philosopher’s post at The Landing

Those of you who regularly walk The Landing might have spotted this small poster stapled to the end of the bridge along the trail. Here’s what it says: “ Only ideas won by walking have any value.” The quote is attributed to the late German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. I took some time to read about Nietzsche and I don’t think he was a fitness freak by any stretch of the imagination. He is best known for his writings on good and evil.

There are regular Landing walkers and I believe they all share something in common. They have come to realize that a daily walk is healthy. It is good for the lungs, the heart, the brain, the legs, and yes, even the soul. The phrase “God is dead” is attributed to Nietzsche. Those of us who walk in the early morning and see the sun rise over William’s Point aren’t so certain.

Someone stopped me the other day ( as I was entering The Landing ) to tell me that they were inspired with my hiking story ( A Walk in the Woods ). Lest you think that the intent of my stories is to try and motivate people, that is not the case. I am merely relating everyday stuff that a lot of other people do. If it happens to inspire someone, then that is terrific.

Last week, I spoke about a “murder of crows” in the story “ Nothing to Crow About.” I followed this up with a quiz and one reader identified the name for a collection of owls. It is called a parliament. I will not insult your intelligence by asking you to identify the name for a collection of rabbits. Too easy. It is called a herd. But do you know where they live ( besides your vegetable garden! ) ? Correct. Rabbits live in a warren.

Now the reason I bring this up is that I am seriously thinking of relocating once again to move in with the herd. You see, I have embarked on this new journey to eat properly and over the past 16 days, I have possibly eaten more vegetables than all the rabbits in Antigonish County combined. I am eating a very balanced diet with a preponderance of veggies and fruit along with my daily walk. Not bragging, but I’ve shed 11 pounds in less than three weeks. These are the easy pounds of course but I am very encouraged. My life long craving for sweets is dissipating with each passing day. I don’t smoke or drink and am off the sweets. I could be a candidate for the most boring person in Antigonish!

I have two good stories on the drawing board. “Late Fee Fiasco” is a story about getting caught in a lineup…. not just any lineup, but a bank lineup. The protagonist, Donna, is on her way to work and gets stuck in a bank bottleneck. She needs to pay her credit card bill on time ( that very day ) or absorb exorbitant bank fees. We’ve all been in this situation. We’re under the gun with time constraints and the gods conspire to make our lives difficult.

Now, the other story might not appeal to everyone. If you didn’t grow up in the 60’s in Antigonish, most of the content of this story won’t mean a damn thing to you. But, it doesn’t really matter. If you grew up in any small town during that era, you will have fond memories of the businesses that dotted your Main Street. So, for any of you who had a feed of possibly the best fish and chips ever at Johnny Lord’s, stay tuned. I don’t have a name for the story but you’ll get an alert.

Have a great week.

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