We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Endurance is a different category from the general fitness things we usually post about. While all exercises assist endurance, the best way is to do things that take time to train your body to endure.
Who has time to hike 10-12 miles over hill and dale, with a pack, without either a vacation or a dedicated Saturday?
From the Harvard Med. School Letter: Age and muscle loss
As the years pass, muscle mass in the body generally shrinks, and strength and power decline. The process begins earlier than you might think. Sarcopenia—defined as age-related muscle loss—can begin at around age 35 and occurs at a rate of 1-2 percent a year for the typical person. After age 60, it can accelerate to 3 percent a year. The loss may be mild, moderate, or severe—or muscles can remain in the normal range...
5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
5:17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
5:23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Lots of hikers here, and plenty of interesting opinions about footwear and foot care.
It depends on whether you are climbing steeps, rock-scrambling as a big part of it, or strolling on a comfy trail. The terrain matters, but most hill-hiking has varied terrain. Still, lots of people prefer various sorts of light-weight, quick-drying sneakers even when taking on the AT to Maine.
I like my heavy-duty (and heavy) Meindls for rocks and rocky steeps, Adidas for mild varied terrain, and running sneakers for ordinary trail hiking. The weight matters - less is better.
Mountaineering boots are a different topic. I am not climbing Ben Nevis, although we did as kids. The easy route, and in summer - not winter.
I tend to think the view that one of the ways that Judaism is distinguished from Christianity is the primacy of justice in the former, compared to the primacy of mercy in the latter. To the Christian, everyone is a sinner, and so the differences between me and the death row prisoner are ontologically trivial. (A view like this I think motivates someone like the Atlantic's Liz Bruenig, whom I credit as one of the few honest death penalty opponents, even as I disagree with her.) Judaism, by contrast, is fundamentally a religion of law
Mrs. BD has planned a 9-day hiking trip in Scotland (and in the Eng. Lake District). Fine with me. Probably 10-12 miles/day over hill and dale, but no moutains.
However, I tend to have two hiking issues. One is that I have destroyed one shoulder from skiing and body-surfing accidents, so I can't handle a backpack for much over an hour. Pain whick removes all pleasure. Luckily, she doesn't mind carrying it. But I am also prone to foot blisters. It is not about the right hiking shoes. I have the best for different purposes. Yes, liner socks etc.
A few years ago, I found some amazing analgesic bandaid-like things in a farmacia in Spain. I should have bought 50 packs of them, because they saved our trip for me. My feet were a bloody mess, but painless. Can't find those same things on Amazon.
The Ron is young, successful, formidable, and much admired for his courage and practical intelligence. He would make a great president. The Don is aggressive in his demeanor, tends to polarize people, and would rouse opposition to his candidacy, especially from the Fourth and Fifth Estates. All this is true, though few seem to realize that the Ron, should he receive the Republican nomination, would face a media barrage of hostility and disinformation no less virulent. The fact is, I believe, that the debate between the relative merits and strengths of the Ron and the Don is utterly irrelevant and nothing short of a logomachic distraction.
42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?"
42:4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help
42:6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
42:7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.
42:8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
42:9 I say to God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?"
42:10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?"
42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!
43:2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?
43:3 O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
Democrats are