Brown Motion

Translated to English is Forest Bathing.  No bathing suit needed.  It is literally a walk in the woods.  In the last century the Japanese discovered that to get away from the grind of the big city and rejuvenate oneself they could take a walk among the trees.  This has proven to be  preventive approach to health care and healing in Japanese medicine. CNN recently showcased a series on longevity and living well hosted by their on staff Doc (of Indian origin) called Sanjay Gupta.  He took a trip to Japan to find out how their citizens lived long years for the most part and discover why city dwellers seemed lonely and overworked.  The latter is attributed their work ethic and surviving through post WWII times to build a better life.  Unfortunately overwork is today a leading cause of stress in their society. His findings lead him to discover this old technique of getting immersed in nature to solve the problems of modern society aka st...

This morning with the winds changing direction it was finally good air quality to take a morning constitutional.  So I did.  And I took my camera with.  Reason being that there is a certain park with flowering beds where a large contingent of west coast residers weighing in next to nothing inhabit.  And when the warm sun is out they come flying out with speed and put on a dazzling display. I present Anna's hummingbirds.  This amazing animal can rotate its head up to 50 times a second as it shakes of pollen and can flap its wings even more times to maintain balance as it hovers like a helicopter in one place. Morning Gossip Sucking nectar from the red blossoms all day they gain weight through the day and then go rest over night in the bushes surrounding these flowering plants.  Ever protective of their young ones or eggs in a nest they can dive and attack if they fear another species approach their nesting site.

Bill Bryson wrote another book.  I just read it.  On the whole - 3 out of 5 stars.  While not quite as characteristically brisk and informative as the last few tomes he produced this one also takes on a slightly acerbic tone where he goes off on people for being stupid (sometimes deservedly) not all of which qualify. There are informative passages that allude to rise and fall of civilizations where Britain at one point circa late 19th century to early half of the 20th was the most prodigious inventor, birthplace of art and a happening place and saw this mantle slowly cede as other regions in the world moved up. The narrative is a loose smattering of his walks along an imaginary line he calls the Bryson line that connects the northernmost tip of the English island to its southernmost.  He makes his usual witty observations of life in the villages and farms along the way and sniffs out interesting research like the grave of the guy for whom the tallest mountain in...

There is an expression in English that reads - I told him to take a hike.  This is to imply that the addressee (him) was causing undue stress to the I and I was not willing to listen to him. Hike literally is a long walk preferably in a country (or country side - which is a strange term given country sides are usually the most dangerous locales - if anything you want to be as far away from the sides as possible) setting where country means wilderness.  Then there are the implied meanings of taking a hike i.e. get lost or out of sight. Of course there are also tax hikes and price hikes and others where the implication is on the rising or raising of said tax or prices. I on the other hand take walks.  Could be a hike or a stroll but it is the act of wandering with no particular plan in mind.  That is my contribution to my being healthy.  Or not ill. I am not quite gaga about the health and fitness craze myself nor do I envisage a day when I have any p...