Good Day Today, With Moderate Physical Training

 Well, I'm midway through today's evening, having passed up on early rising.  I was a bit restrained with my running/walking training but managed some Martinus Evans-level "slow AF" brief runs back and forth across my backyard, along with a few minutes of running-in-place.  I'm brewing a pot of flavored decaf coffee, and then I'd like to get through a few minutes more of ipf and/or rock-running.  I still feel like I'm encountering an undue amount of resistance to my workouts, bu I'm sticking to the late Jesse Jackson's immortal quote: "Keep hope alive!" Earlier during the afternoon while Melissa was having her teeth cleaned, I lied down in the back and listened to the entire Sufjan Stevens album (from 2006) titled The Avalanche..my favorite tracks from it are The Henney Buggy Band and Pittsfield and the title song.After 9:30, I'm shutting things down in the front of the house and watching baseball with the sound lowered...and the air conditioning on while I bundle up and hide under a blanket. Getting up early tomorrow morning may well be a "hit" for me, for I could well do some more exercising and writing. Hope you all had a wonderful day as it is now winding down, and that tomorrow carries with it many blessings and things to be grateful for...Sweet dreams!...

Follow-Up on Sufjan stevens' 2010 Song Impossible Soul,Parkrun Walking Photo

 

In late 2010 Sufjan Stevens, already established and critically acclaimed in the alternative/indie music genre, came out with his next album The Age of Adz.  I didn't like it, although Stevens seemed to pull out all the stops within his production studio.  Now, more than 15 years later, I have proclaimed as 'song of the month" for March, 2026 the final track, titled Impossible Soul and running at 25 minutes 36 seconds. it grew on me over the years, and is now my Amazon Prime Music current favorite song.  Well, How Soon Is Now by the Smiths is my real favorite, and a masterpiece for its lyrics by Morrissey.  Above is a dubious photo of me walking across the Depot Parkrun bridge on my first and final lap there yesterday morning...

Warm-to Hot Saturday Afternoon with Additional Backyard Exercise

 Now that it is mid-afternoon, 80+ degrees outside, I'd like to report that after Melissa so lovingly and graciously drove me out to Depot Park, just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, I walked one solid lap during that Parkrun 5K before returning to the car.  Early on, E,J., one of their volunteer parkwalkers, got a nice, friendly conversation going with me.  We talked about the birds at the park and their beautiful and sometimes funny songs.  I brought up the fact that before my brain cancer diagnosis and surgery late last year, I had achieved a pretty fast speed-walking pace for Parkruns.  Now, I said, I can't even keep up with 80+-year-old visually-impaired Jon, whose walking pace seems nearly effortless as he seems to float along the path.  Next weekend I'd like to try the same course and extend my walk, hopefully for the full 5K distance.  Now I just came in from our back yard, immersed in the afternoon sunny heat, where I walked its inner perimeter for six minutes while our dog Peewee enthusiastically ran with me...it was pretty tiring! during this effort I listened in on Sufjan Steven's opening segment to his album-concluding track Impossible Soul. That 25-minute song now stands as my "Song of the Month" for March 2026 although it is now 16 years old. Now I'm sipping on some recently brewed coffee typing this after the close of my Saturday home exercise.  i plan to relax and watch some TV, maybe looking a bit at Khan's Shadow Magic novel...maybe not.  Let's all enjoy the rest of today and be thankful for the wonderful things we've been blessed with. Happy new spring season...