Spanish flu?

I got the flu vaccine and dreamt that night entirely in Spanish.

Makes one wonder. . . .

1,500 miles is not that far.

I guess it's how you look at it. 1,500 miles is longer than the distance between the southern border of California to the northern border of Washington (state). It would take about 500 hours to walk. Or a year at an average of four miles per day which was my average daily walk in 2024.

So is that a long distance - 1,500 miles - or a short one - 4 miles per day?

I hope to walk farther in 2025 but I'm off to a slow start. I do most of my walking in the cooler months of October through April although it can get hot even then. And while I trained for a half marathon in the early months of 2025, I never completed one. And then, I didn't walk for much of the summer because it was too hot to go outside much less do anything. My daily average for this year is only 3.2 miles per day for a total of about 830 miles. I'd have to do more than six miles per day to reach 1,500 miles by the end of the year. Now, 1,500 miles looks far.

All that being said, it's time to replace my walking shoes so I went shopping last weekend and came home with two pair. One is the (women's) Altra Experience Flow that I purchased from REI. The other is the (men's) Nike Run Swift 3 purchased from DSW.

You might wonder why I bought both a women's shoe and a men's. I typically wear women's shoes but I have run in men's shoes before. They give me a little more room in the shoe, particularly in the toe box.

So far, I've walked three miles in each pair on a treadmill and while I wanted to like the Altras more I'm not sure I do. The Nike pair are closer to the style of shoe from New Balance that I've been wearing the last few years but when I ordered a pair this year, they felt clunky and stiff. I did some research online, decided on some metrics that I wanted to focus on, and went shopping.

I'll do another few miles in each pair of shoes on the treadmill before deciding but either way, I'm getting motivated to get out there and get walking. The weather is starting to cool down providing much needed relief to those of us in the southern California desert but it needs to be much cooler for me to do distances of 4, 6, 10, or more miles. I would love to do a marathon this year and even if it's something I could do, do I really want to? A marathon would take me six to seven hours to walk. And even if I wanted to do that, I have to consider all the time that training to walk that far would take. I've run two marathons before and while that was hugely satisfying, the main drawback was the sacrifice of time.

To be determined.

Whichever way I go on the shoes, I must mention that the customer service and return policy of REI are above and beyond. Even if I rule out the Altras, I won't rule out REI. No matter what you're looking for, if you're looking to get outside, start with REI. They have a lot to offer.

In the meantime, walk on.

Suddenly September

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was bored with summer. Nothing to do, too hot to go outside, I started looking for a job. That's how serious it had gotten.

Now, I can't seem to keep my desk cleared, the emails from piling up, keep up with my diary, or post to my blog.

Although, I am getting pretty close to finishing this . . . .

Modeled by the beautiful and elegant JW.

And for some inexplicable reason, I waited until it was 110 degrees outside to embrace baking. First, I cleaned the oven which filled the house with hot air. Then, I learned to cultivate a sourdough starter. Since then, I have made sourdough bread, rye bread, biscuits, and countless cookies. Also, I knit blankets.

"You live in a desert," my granddaughter helpfully pointed out.

Yes, but I won't get any use out of a sweater, hat, or scarf. At least, I can cuddle under a blanket in the cooler evenings a couple months from now. 

That is, if I'm not cleaning the oven.