Benefits of Exercise - it is never too late, but......

There have been many studies which show a link between exercise and longevity.  Many of these studies have been snapshots of peoples' exercise habits.  A new study reported in the New York Times has looked at the link between longevity and exercise over a lifetime.

Many people exercise or play sport when they are younger.  Then they may either discontinue physical activity or keep exercising the whole of their lives.

Then sometimes those who were inactive, start to join in activities in mid-life. Those who did recommence physical activity later in life were shown to have accrued almost the same benefits as those who exercised all along.  However, for everyone, if they discontinued the benefits ebbed away.

The lesson for us is never too late to start an exercise programme or class, but we must try to keep going, don't give up.  Let's keep our engines ticking over.

Botanic Gardens

Some people go shopping on their travels, everywhere I go, it is Botanical Gardens.  Those  in Washington DC are exceptional.  There's a huge greenhouse building with plants well set out and well labelled, thank you.  The plants are arranged properly  and every plant is a winner, so that  the overall effect is pleasing to the eye.  They have themed rooms. Desert, Mediterranean,  tropical food plants and medicinal plants etc.  My favourite  are those arranged in big blue pots. You know me, I  am a sucker for a blue ceramic pot.. It is very inspiring

And I love cinnamon

Beautifully proportioned garden

Tropical plants, coconut, coffee, vanilla 

Across the road is Bartholdi Gardens.  This is a triangular city block which is a Sustainable  Garden.  They capture and store all the rain water in a soil-soaker system so that it doesn't enter the drain. In the modern redesign, they've repurposed the concrete into channelling, they've made elegant stone wall out of paving found on site and they had to take down oak trees so they made them into furniture, i.e. lovely table and chairs to sit in, throughout the garden.  The guide said it was a model that people can learn from and to take these ideas home to their own garden. 
In Australia  we call it Permaculture -  permanent agriculture.

Botanical Gardens Washington DC  -These Bartholdi Gardens are sustainable.

Harvesting Carrots. an older photo

This is an old ;picture. Fantastic fun harvesting carrots.  My kitchen, under renovation in the picture, is now finished.

13 Hours is the Magic number - HOW Habit of the Week

The New York Times reports that sitting for more than 13 hours per day can undo the benefit of a workout. 

It is hard to imagine sitting for 13 hours, however, if you work at a desk 9 to 5, then commute home, then watch TV, the hours are ticking over. 

I'm trying to stand up a little more, but a workout is better, and more fun. 

I've been trying to cultivate some good habits, starting with a journal session in the morning followed by a morning walk.  However, it has been raining here, 48ml, so far, and it is a bit chilly.. So I've been dashing out in the garden digging up weeds. and Jerusalem Artichokes

The Habit of the Week  - HOW, is to keep track of those sitting hours. 

Back in the saddle again

It is great to be back home.  It has been fun seeing everyone.  I'm struck how beautiful it all looks, the rain has been falling in our absence, so everything is clean and green and the sky is bright.  I've been straightening up in the garden too.  The weeds have enjoyed the rain, there are plenty of flowers to pick and food harvests to eat.

Meanwhile, at work.
It was great to start back at Nundah, Aspley, Sandgate and Clem Jones.  The weather is so pleasant and cool.  It is perfect "workout weather" I am a bit rusty, but the classes were fun and effective.

However,  the public holidays will be affecting Monday classes. 
So it is a good idea to keep mobile by heading to the Sandgate class.  It is Tuesday, 9.30am/ It is held in Sandgate Town Hall.  It is a wonderful venue.  Parking in Second Avenue.

Boston, the birthplace of the nation

The finish line of the Boston Marathon

What a contrast between Viva Las Vegas and Boston Massachusetts. Las Vegas is all style, no substance, everything your eye falls upon in Las Vegas is a  "construct" either to put visitors in a party mood, or to extract money. 

Whereas Boston is all substance, and very understated. It was cold and windy.  Maximum 4 degrees celsius.  It is the windiest city in USA.   Turns out that Chicago is only "windy" because of all the hot air.   The Boston buildings are solid and beautiful, and old.  It was one of the first settlements of the English.  The American revolution was plotted there and many of the founding fathers lived there.  We went on a walking tour of the city, which included Boston Common and State Street, the Old English church, Benjamin Franklin's resting place and so many really interesting stories.  Our guide was an excellent story teller, but could not understand our accents.



We went to a grand concert. Dido and Aeneas, the Purcell opera. It was held in Jordan Hall a sumptuous Concert Hall.  Wow, Bostonians love their music.  It was a full house, the performance was magnificent.  We were able to walk to the venue. 

The children of Boston designed the characters on this merry-go-round.  Guess what?  No horses.

Edgar Allen Poe

This represents the arrival of the Irish during the Potato Famine Period- The small hunched over sculpture is the family as they were when they arrived.  The statue on the left is the same family, after settling in America- hale and hearty

Grand Canyon Pictures

One of the most interesting moments of the trip to the Grand Canyon was heading down to the river with a native American guide who came from this land.  He talked about the condor and other native animals that are definitely around, but are frightened off, a little, by the tourists. 

That Grand Canyon

The story starts in Las Vegas. We left San Diego and many happy times, the wedding celebrations and my birthday, lots of site-seeing  and family time. 

Then we went to crazy town, Las Vegas.  We went there primarily because  Don really wanted  to see the Grand Canyon.  We had teamed up with Cousin Iris and we went all out.

by bus- 4.30am pick up, 

plane to boulder City 

My tiny mind couldn't grasp the size of it all.  the plane flight over Hoover dam made me appreciate how dry everything else is, rather like flying to Longreach.

Helicopter down into the canyon was an adventure. though the pilot didn't speak at all, I guess he didn't have to 

After boat ride with an indigenous guy on the Colorado river itself, which was my highlight

We went back up the top

A bus ride around to a couple of spectacular lookouts.  At one of these spots is an ancient sacred site.  It is a massive eagle with it's wings spread open wide. At this spot were lots of security guys in high viz jackets, right at the edge of the canyon, who were telling people to keep back away from the edge, any time they came to close.  A Hong Kong guy had  died there just the day before trying to take photos too near the edge and he fell.

So, while Don took care, he also took some great photos, but it's hard to do justice to landscape on this scale.

By the way, cousin Iris was stricken with a bad tummy bug on the day we were leaving San Diego and she gave it all a miss.  She went to hospital instead to get treatment and, of course, a doctor's certificate to claim on her travel insurance. 

Meanwhile, Don will attach photos of the Grand Canyon in a later post

Stand by for the next episode. 

See you soon

Ann