Spring Has Arrived...With Some Snow

Well, spring has arrived on the east coast of the United States.  I'm happy to report that today represents the longest single day of walking since I injured my foot with just under eight miles completed on the exercise circuit. I could have done without the snow.

Gray Skies Over Spa Creek on the First Day of Spring

My whine about the snow notwithstanding, today was a pretty good day on the walking front. In addition to the continuation of recovery from injury, Rory and I may have identified our first disciple on this pilgrimage. He's and acquaintance of mine that shares a penchant for rash decision making, and after a particularly frustrating day at work with one of the better know non-profits he declared to his boss that he was bound and determined to walk across the United States as an awareness and fundraising campaign.

He later admitted that it was an act of escapism really, but that didn't sound as good when spoken at a high volume in his senior's office. This initial decision sounds eerily familiar the the emoting that landed me in the current predicament, so I suggested that he start training. Like my initial assumptions, he has what is probably an overly high opinion of the number of miles per day and how many days in a row he can put those miles down on the trail. 

I've found there's really only one cure for this sort of thing. The cure is to start to walk. You'll either convince yourself that you're crazy, or you'll find what you've been looking to see for a long time. For me it was the latter. 

Even though he's probably as crazy as Rory and me, it feels good to have a potential partner. With only one, things are lonely. With a partner, things are tolerable. Three...now, three is a coalition, and who knows what will happen when a coalition's ideas begin to acquire a tangible form. We'll see tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Early Morning Demographics

After spending a fair amount of time in the early morning walking about six months ago, I was ambling along minding my own business, to the extent that travel at just over 3.5 mph will allow, when I noticed something that at the time seemed really quite peculiar.  It's captured in this morning's photograph of the National Gallery.  See if you can pick out anything that's out of the ordinary.

National Gallery just after sunrise this morning

Of course the architecture is striking...particularly if you are partial to the Greek revival style that seems to dominate the Federal Government buildings in the more historic parts of Washington, DC.  That's not all that unusual if you've followed some of my previous postings.  There is a hint of a mostly clear sunrise with salmon clouds backed by a cerulean sky, but again, this has been a rather beautiful, though typical, occurrence.

What I noticed six months ago, and is aptly but not obviously demonstrated by this photo is the large percentage of women out exercising in the early morning.  There are six people in this photo.  Five are women, and all five are engaged in the overly vigorous (in my quickly becoming and old man opinion) activity of running the stairs.  The one male is dressed for work and trudging up the steps at a much more civilized pace (again, just my perspective from where I stand as far as the speed part of that assessment goes.

Upon my initial observation (in the depths of winter, by the way), I thought that I'd stumbled on an interesting, but non-recurring anomaly.  The apparent imbalance in the ratio at the time was striking enough that I decided to actually start taking metrics the following morning.  The need for numbers to disprove this clearly erroneous impression scratched the itch of the engineering degree that I took in university a couple of decades ago.

The metrics collection exercise was pretty simple.  For the set of humans that were clearly out on the Mall in Washington, DC exercising in the early morning, I would count the number of males and number of females I encountered during my walk starting a the entrance to the Capitol campus, around the loop that I walked on the Mall, and ending with my exit of the Capitol campus approximately two miles later.

I collected the numbers for a little longer than a week, and reported the results to Rory Conlan on nearly a daily basis, but after the first several days it was clear that my initial impression that struck like a bolt from the blue was clearly supported by the data.  Ten or twelve days later when I'd convinced myself that my observation was no mere anomaly, the ratio of females to males in a relatively safe place for taking exercise worked out to about 3.5 to 1.

I took the same series of metrics during the lunch time period, and it became clear that there was a much different ratio that was much closer to parity, but favored males over females in terms of numbers just slightly.

Rory and I concluded that the ratio was skewed heavily toward the female of the species in the early morning period for two principle reasons:

1.  The women were tougher and more dedicated.  Remember, this was in February, and there were several mornings when the temperature was in the low to mid-teens and the wind was blowing like it had forgotten to turn off the oven in Mexico and was rushing back from Canada to finish the task.

2.  Grooming habits and social expectations indicated that early exercise afforded the women the opportunity to put in the miles and still be coiffed appropriately for their professional engagements for the remainder of the day.

Observed at other locations in diverse areas of the country, this observation, up to and including the specific ratios, appears to hold true where I've taken the data.  This is yet another aspect of early morning activity that I find enriching and positive.  Put yourself in the way of beauty and then be conscious enough of the moment to see it traipse through your life.

A Long Day of Non-Pedestrian Travel...And Gratitude

Today I was afforded the opportunity to spend a great deal of time in airports and on the road between airports.  Four states (MD, NC, FL, and AL) and the District of Columbia (DC).  It was not the smoothest travel day I've ever experienced, and the scenery for a number of hours looked like this:

Actually this was one of the better scenes - Notice that there are only embryonic thunderstorms and not the fully developed variety that was the source of some delay later in the day.

Even though I was on the road again, I was accompanied on my journey by some lovely ladies:

Beth and Kristy were there for me from the start.

Stranded in Charlotte, NC for a little bit, but at least I was with the Twins

I did manage to get in a relatively short pedestrian excursion earlier in the morning, so I kept my running streak going, and I'm still on track for the daily average over the course of August although it cost me all of my cushion.

At the end of a day like this it's probably best if I end with some gratitude, so with that in mind I am grateful:

1.  For having a good job that never really gets boring...much to my chagrin at times.
2.  For being able to get into an aluminum tube, travel about 500 mph over 1500 miles, at 30K feet (that's 5 miles) above the surface of the earth and ultimately arrive safely.  It's pushes the limits of sanity if you think about it too much, so I don't.
3.  For the noticeable uptick in the quality of foods available in airport terminals.  It's still delivered to you at company store rates (another First World Problem), but gone are the days of the soggy gas station sandwich delivered at those same usurous rates.
4.  Air conditioning.  You only have to step in the elephant like blanket of heat and humidity in the deep south once to be grateful for the engineering behind this little luxury, but it's good to be reminded of the benefits from time to time.
5.  Hotels that know me at the front desk and have the room key ready after a long day of travel.
6.  Connectivity, so I can make quick in-stride adjustments that suit my plans and requirements.  At one point today, I was simultaneously on the phone, talking in person to a ticket agent, and using the Oracle (Google) to provide insight into optimal routing and rental car reservation adjustments on the fly.  I remember when I used to get once a week phone calls from Rory Conlan from England through the SATCOM network for about $8/min.  You could actually hear the echo and feedback as the radio waves made the measurable travel up into orbit and back down again to the ground station for further processing.  These were analog lines for the last mile.  The rise of the connected individual is truly remarkable in the last quarter century.

There are so many more things to be grateful for, but for now I'll leave the scene with these.  It's an early morning tomorrow, and I've got a comfortable bed that's calling my name.

Rory Conlan speaks up

 

ENGAGING  THE   ENDEAVOR

Several months ago, while engaged in a telephone conversation with a friend of many years, I was asked if I’d be interested in participating in a long walk.   More specifically, a walk across the United States, coast-to-coast.

                My initial reaction was mildly negative; my verbal response, after a few seconds pause, was non-committal:   “I’d consider it."

        In retrospect, that transaction is consistent with a life pattern I’ve worked to develop – a life pattern that emphasizes approaching decision making deliberately, logically, “linearly” – not emotionally.

        Now, having said all that, I’ve “deliberately, logically, linearly” decided to become a “partner-in-crime” in this coast-to-coast endeavor.  A significant factor in arriving at that decision was my recognition that this isrepresents an ADVENTURE!!

The ADVENTURE has commenced!!

More  later.