From Walking to Nordic Walking

For some time now I have been thinking about upping my walking game by adding Nordic poles.  I have a good friend who did this about a year ago and after talking with her recently I decided it was time to give it a try.  In the past, I have walked with ski poles in the winter when it has been icy, but they are rather unforgiving.  These new poles offer some gentle cushioning or spring and when done properly there is no jarring to the arms.  I have yet to master the proper style but I am working on it.  The idea is to stretch the arms out as if you were shaking hands with someone and then push using the back and shoulder muscles.  I am still using my arm too much from the elbows down but I will get there.  Of course, not being one to start out with a relatively short walk to try them out, I set out on one of my longest walks while here in New Hampshire.  Trust me when I say I didn’t know how far it was going to be I just had a goal to get to a spot and then turn around and head back.  Runkeeper is a great app and it told me that I had walked quite a distance when I finally got back.  I use the app on my phone to track my walking distance and my progress towards my 100 mile goal which I set every month.  For the last couple of months I have exceeded the goal by five or ten miles but I am going to keep the goal where it is for now.  Rather, I would like to quicken the pace.  I have my daughter to compete with and she is averaging around a 15 minute mile.  Oh I wish!!!

Puppy Update

Seriously having to search for a name now that we have decided to go ahead and adopt another fur baby into our midst.  We have been throwing around names to each other as we scour through the List of Shakespearean Characters that is on Wikipedia.  Tradition in our household has been to name our four-footed family members after characters in various Shakespeare plays.  We have had Falstaff, Othello, Oberon, Peto, Miranda, Sebastian, Buckingham, Mistress Quickly (Miss Q), Sir Toby Belch, Olivia and Portia.  A mix of cats and dogs in there and no real trend of any kind.  It’s rather a fun activity and a few other family members are getting into the game.  As mentioned last week, even our house/pet sitter has made suggestions.  Every Monday we get puppy pictures and updates from the breeder.  We still don’t know which male is ours yet but we will soon.  Here they are at officially three weeks playing follow the leader I think.

Autumn Arrives and a Birthday too

The fun thing about the Fall Equinox is that it happens to also be our granddaughter Libby’s birthday.  Along with celebrating with her we actually felt the arrival of fall to our area.  Up to now we have had temperatures in the 80’s and 90’s here at the lake.  In fact, right up until Friday the 23rd it was still beautiful and sunny and very warm.  That changed and now it is chilly.  Last night there was a frost advisory.  We go from the sublime to the ridiculous very quickly around here.  It’s as if a switch was flicked and the cooler air was ushered in.  The smell of wood smoke is in the air and the trees are really beginning their serious change in color.  I drove into Montreal for a dinner with my sister and cousins and on the way back out noticed that the trees were quite far along around Mt Orford.  Before long we will have snow back on the mountains.  So Happy Birthday to our favorite granddaughter and welcome to fall, I guess it’s about time.

A Quiet Week Ahead

I always think it will be a quiet week when I sit down on Sunday to contemplate the coming days.  When I was working I always knew that Monday morning would bring back the routine of getting up, driving to wherever I happened to be working, coping with all the responsibility where I worked and then coming home again.  I dreamed of that time when I wouldn’t have to do that but could get up when I wanted, sit and gaze out at the lake and dream, read, all those things that I didn’t think I could do when I was working.  Not true.  Now when I look out to the week ahead it’s pretty much the same thing as when I had the work routine.  The biggest difference is that my main focus now is getting out for that daily walk.  I certainly walked when I was working but it was much earlier in the morning and it was a shorter amount of time.  In fact, I don’t think my life has changed all that much.  My days have filled up with volunteer events, spending time with my family, errands and taking care of our pets and each other.  The only real difference is there is much, much less stress.  I am still doing all the things I used to do I just have more time to do them.  This week is supposed to be our quiet week, the one where we will put the house to bed, put up the winter porch, put the boat away and prepare the gardens for winter.  I wonder if it will really be quiet.  My cousin and his wife are coming for a visit and I bet it won’t be quiet after all.  I read a wonderful article by Tom Ehrich that addresses the phases of work and retirement this week which is what got me thinking about all this.  You can find him at his website Tom Ehrich.

Here’s a quick breakfast idea that will keep you full until lunch.

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