Sunday 6 March 2005

Pic of the day: You won't need it if you have pets or children. Just capturing them is usually a workout, or so it often seems. (Screenshot from the anime My Hime.)

Walk of life

Not all days are memorable. This one was not. I do however remember that I walked to the shop and bought a few boxes of yogurt, then walked back home. (I had bought some yogurt there yesterday, but that particular batch of strawberry yogurt was so tasty that I decided to go back today for more. Unsurprisingly it was almost sold-out when I came just before closing time.) The nearest shop these days is approximately half an hour away when I walk briskly but not uncomfortably fast.

While walking, I thought about walking and health. It is pretty obvious that taking long walks is good for your health if you don't exercise much or have manual labor at work or at home. Compared to sitting in your car, it is certainly a big leap forward. And it is rather comfortable if you have good shoes and good music. You get to use some muscles and relax some others. You get fresh air (if there's not too much traffic) and your heart brings the oxygen around to your body and your brain. This is probably good for thinking; certainly I seem to get some of my inspiration during these walks, whether for fiction or for this journal.

Of course, it is not a miracle cure. There are plenty of diseases that pay no respect to a strong heart and lungs. This includes pretty much all cancers, which kill off approximately a third of the population at least. And I could get run over by a car, or slip on the ice and crack my head open. So it is not exactly like I'm buying lifetime. But it is not exactly like a lottery, either. It is more likely than not that taking a long walk will give more time back to me than I put into it. If I don't actively hate it, that's a pretty good investment!

And besides, it is incredibly cheap. All I have to do is not buy a car. OK, there are shoes. I guess you can't satisfy both heart and sole...