Thursday Tidbits
Posted on February 3, 2022 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet
Walking with Tom
This is my last Thursday Tidbits. Earlier this week, I announced that I would no longer be publishing Monday Morning Musings or Thursday Tidbits. Here is an excerpt from that post:
“This will be my last Monday Morning Musings.
This is not an April Fool’s joke.
After ten years and nearly 1300 posts, I am going to scale back on my writing. Coming up with fresh material twice a week, every week, is getting harder and harder. I’m sure it is mostly age related. Of course, when I started out, I had no idea that a few harmless stories would take me to where I am today. Thursday will be my final Thursday Tidbits.
However, rather than abandon you and cause withdrawal symptoms (!), my plan is to do one story a week on Wednesdays. It will be called Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom. So now, rather than MMM and TT, it will be WWW. I will continue to do the Wednesday piece until I run out of gas. “
So, stay tuned for my very first Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom next Wednesday, February 9th. Someone commented that they were looking forward to my “pearls of wisdom”. I assured this person that they would be fake pearls!
On to more serious matters. I feel certain that every one of my readers has been touched by cancer. Someone we know has had cancer and many of us have lost family, friends and loved ones to this insidious disease.
I recently signed up for DryFeb, a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. People can choose to remain dry (no alcohol) for some or all of the month. I chose the latter. My goal is to raise $1,000 for the Cancer Society. Donations can be made directly to the Canadian Cancer Society by clicking on this link. Donations of $25 and up receive a charitable receipt.
https://dryfeb.cmail19.com/t/i-l-edlklh-tyuryhujki-oj/
I must admit that January was not my most productive. There were some bright shining moments (Thanks CG) but other than daily walks and breathing, I wasn’t terribly motivated to do much of anything. I read a few books and wrote my twice weekly column and watched lots of television news and sports. And Netflix. Lots and lots of Netflix. One of my favourites was Falling For Figaro.
The DryFeb fundraiser for cancer got me to thinking about my late brother, Tom. Actually, he’s never far from my memory. I have a small urn with some of his ashes sitting on a shelf of my writing desk. To honour his memory, I decided to use this month (and a few extra days) to walk 10 kilometers a day. Not that I need much inspiration, but I will be carrying Tom’s ashes with me. This somehow seems fitting because Tom rarely slowed down. He went full throttle his entire life.
We all know that regular exercise is good for the heart and the head. I am sure that at least half of my nearly 1300 posts were created while running or walking. A recent study on aging had this to say: “Exercise is often touted as a way to stay healthy and vibrant at any age, but one finding that makes it particularly relevant as we get older is that movement has been shown to increase the size of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays a vital role in learning and memory. This is important because the hippocamus shrinks as we age, which can lead to memory deficits and increased risk of dementia. In one study of older adults, exercise increased hippocamus size by 2 percent, which is equivalent to reversing one to two years of age-related decline.”
Last thing.
A few days ago, on one of my walks, I ran into this old-timer. About 4 inches of snow had fallen the previous night and there was light snow falling as I approached him.
“Winters aren’t what they used to be,” he said.
“You’re right. We used to get a lot more snow than this,” was my replay.
Surveying the ground, he quipped, “For God’s sake, we used to make hay in this weather.”
I chuckled for the next hour. One of the other great things about walking is that you inevitably meet someone and strike upma conversation.
Thursday Tidbits is no more. I hope you have enjoyed reading these posts.
Stay well.
And as my friend Angela Meredith Gabaldon of Victoria says, “Keep movin’ and groovin’”.
Have a great weekend.
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