Amazing Orchestra, Amazing Night!

Actually Homework (Well, Extra Credit)

Je me languis de l'inconnu...

Actually a line from a song my daughter is learning for extra credit from French II.

With our first trip to Disneyland occurring last year, we've been really into The Nightmare Before Christmas and Danny Elfman's music this year.

We saw him in the MOST amazing concert on Halloween weekend, singing songs from the film. Just like the 90s! Both daughters love, love, love his music and talent.

So, now, my eldest has found the lyrics to Jack's Lament in French and is using her strong musical and language skills to memorize them for extra credit.

That's how we roll... we're late to school every day... but we're singing in French with our time together.

While Typing... Christmas Creeps In...

No matter how many times I watch "Love Actually," by the end, it always makes me cry. All those different types of love... all those stories intertwining...

I realize that I am showing love by typing 70 pages of World History notes so that my daughter will be able to assemble her notebook before it is due. Even mad busy, Christmas still creeps in around the edges, flavors the still air, and hovers in the drifting afternoon light.

In the Rushing of a Single Moment

Everything circles and
Spirals around. The waves push the
Sand to and fro. Patterns form and
Dissolve as quickly. Footprints
pressed so firmly into being
Vanish with no trace left behind
To show the passing there

Striving, always striving, in the
To and Fro, in the push and pull
we walk the shoreline hand in
Hand, or yet alone, or yet in
Groups, laughter and calling to
And fro.

Patterns, shifting, striving, the
Work of the pattern, the work of breaking
Through, breaking through the work,
Breaking through into life. What matters?
What should we do? What matters?
The work of breaking through, the foot
Presses against the sand
Impression made and then erased. The
To and Fro, the breaking, breaking
Waves of the shore, of work, of life.
What matters?
To and Fro...

More Articles about Walking Speed and Overall Health

Slow walking speed is an issue I'm seeing in my parents -- and to some extent, myself-- with advancing age. My curiosity about this drove me to do a bit of research. Below are some useful articles I'd like to refer to in the future, especially in teaching my yoga classes.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/why-a-brisk-walk-is-better/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140725144455.htm

http://dougkelsey.com/why-we-slow-down/

http://news.discovery.com/human/health/walking-speed-seniors-longevity-110104.htm

Older people who walk quickly tend to live longer than those who slow way down as they age, found a new study.

Excerpt from Article listed above:

The findings do not mean that slow walkers are doomed to die early, the researchers warn. Nor will intentionally pushing yourself to hustle keep you young.

Instead, the study suggests that, like blood pressure and cholesterol levels, the pace that you feel comfortable walking at can be a simple sign of your overall health.

In turn, a simple walking test could help doctors and patients make decisions about when to perform certain screening tests -- and when not to.

"We are not saying that if you just go out and walk faster, you will live longer. Absolutely not," said Stephanie Studenski, a geriatrician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and at the Veteran Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System. "We are saying your body selects a walking speed that is best for you based on the health of all your body systems."

"The best way to live as long and well as you can is to be in the best health you can be," she added. "Walking speed might help you reflect or monitor how healthy you are."

There has long been a sense that slowing down is an ominous sign of aging, and not just in people. As pets get older, they may need more rest stops during their morning walks. Even C. elegans worms that wiggle slowly die sooner than worms of the same age that wiggle more quickly.

"Whether you're conscious of it or not, you may feel like grandpa's doing pretty good because he's got a spring in his step, he's out moving around, and he looks lively. But I'm worried about Aunt Mary because she's slowing down a lot," Studenski said. "The observation that there's something about how well you move that reflects health is almost implicit in human experience."

Scheduled

Over the last five weeks, I have completed a workload that would normally take me four months - at the insistence of the client, which meant I could not really decline. Not if I hoped to earn that four months' worth of income.

I have also been highly involved with helping the girls adjust to school's demands for the year. I had 10 teacher conferences just last week.

Now, the work is done. I'm back to my "regular" schedule.

I feel like I am crawling out from under a huge, heavy boulder. Blinking in the bright light and slowly looking around to see what the rest of life is like. A little bit weightless after that oppressive load.