This Observer is pleased to express appreciation for your observation of this blog.


24 August 2008

Absence due to Measured Exorcise

Having not recently posted here, TO is pleased now to return. In part, this absence has a seasonally-related cause. TO tends to find early weekend mornings perhaps the most blog-congenial time within a week; in warm weather, however, these slots collide with opportunities for cool outdoor activity. While not generally athletic in nature, TO enjoys bicycling, typically propelling wheels at a rate that passes some trail participants and is passed by others in approximately equal measure. In addition to offering health benefits, this also affords the opportunity to exorcise the cares and concerns of the day while narrowing one's focus to passing the next mailbox, bridge, or other landmark enroute to an outing's end. There's a satisfaction to successful physical activity, which at least TO finds is complemented by the ability to quantify it. The knowledge that one is 75% of the way to a destination, at a known speed, is somehow comforting and motivating. Earlier this year, TO's cycle odometer failed, leaving a curious sense of loss even on familiar routes. Upon battery replacement, the numeric brain was satisfied again, being able to savor descriptive digits to complement the legs' pedaling cadence. TO would prefer to consider this as an example of synergistic mind/body integration than as notably indicative of geekiness, but perhaps both are true. It's good to achieve something measurable and to be able to measure it.