A Few Ounces of Prevention

I read recently that to stay hydrated, you should divide your body weight by half, and that's the number of ounces of water you should drink every day. So, for example, a 100-pound person should ideally consume 50 ounces of water daily. 

My recommended amount didn't seem like much of a stretch, and that's the goal I started with when I read this prompt this morning. At 5:45, I'm about three-quarters of the way there, and I won't switch over to my evening beer until I make it.

The healthy eating bit also seemed easy enough to me. I almost always eat food I have prepared myself from whole ingredients, and today was no different. I had homemade sourdough toast and an egg for breakfast, roasted carrot and avocado salad for lunch, and popcorn for a snack. For dinner, I'm baking organic chicken thighs and serving them with pasta,  mushrooms, and greens from our CSA share. 

I'm also having that beer, which can be described as natural, but not necessarily healthy. In fact, based on newer research,  the mainstream media has been refining its stance on drinking for the last couple of years, and most articles on that subject these days remind readers that despite some nutritional benefits of fermented beverages like beer and wine, no amount of alcohol can be considered healthy.

It's always kind of a bummer to me whenever I read that, but maybe? I'll have a little extra water to compensate. 😉

Hark!

There's a commercial on TV recently that makes me giggle every time I see it. The product is Repatha, a medication designed to lower LDL cholesterol, and in the ad, a woman and her CGI heart are sitting side-by-side on a couch, recounting the experience of a heart attack for a mostly unseen interview team. 

The recovering heart has a band-aid over her left eye, and what makes me laugh is both how earnest the two of them are, the lady and her heart, and also the genuine affection they have for each other: smiling, laughing, and finishing each other's sentences. Their determination to avoid another heart attack is very authentic. And what also cracks me up is the soft instrumental version of Listen to Your Heart, the '80s ballad with the slightly off lyrics by the Swedish band Roxette. 

The whole spot is as silly as an SNL sketch, and when I read today's prompt, I couldn't get either the song or the commercial out of my head. Even so, I did pay attention to what seemed easy and what seemed hard to do today. I was sleepy this morning, but grateful that I slept soundly last night. My legs were a little cranky walking up Superman Hill, and I was huffing a bit at the top, but I got there and continued for a nice 3-mile walk. I made a few modifications to the yoga kriya when I did it, but I stayed present for most of the meditation and felt good when I was done.

I still have that earworm, though!

As Possible

It was the "as possible" that turned out to be tricky for me. When you have a flexible schedule, as I do, it's theoretically possible to be outside all day. And yet the day dawned gray and cold with temperatures in the 40s. Even so, I bundled up and sat on the deck with my coffee, reading the morning news and puzzles. 

There was an unexpected twist to the day-- Heidi needed to get a gift for a colleague and had a block of free time from 11 to 1, so we spent that time together, which was lovely. And although my schedule is flexible, today I had a couple of commitments-- to bake bread for a neighbor and to go in after school to help Treat with some planning. Again, both activities were positive, and I felt great about them, but neither was outside.

But I did take Lucy for our now routine midday walk. Today it was 3 miles, and the brisk weather was invigorating rather than discouraging. The birds of the neighborhood seemed to agree with us, and we saw plenty of them-- crows, bluejays, sparrows, starlings, cardinals, doves, vultures, and hawks-- attending to their birdy business. 

And the blossoms! Forsythia, cherries, magnolias, crab apples, daffodils, the first tulips, and even some dogwoods all contribute to a gorgeous spring tableau. With every step, I tried to appreciate the beauty of the moment, and I think I did pretty well.

Active April

I get a monthly calendar from a group called Action for Happiness, which gives a daily wellness prompt based on a theme. This month's theme is "Active April," and here is today's challenge:

My plan is to commit to following the direction every day and then write about the experience. Here we go!

(Oh, and I also played pickleball and walked the dog 3 miles.)

Good-bye March

Today marks the end of the annual Slice of Challenge sponsored by the folks over at Two Writing Teachers. Participating in this month-long event back in 2009 got me started with daily writing, and even though I have kept it up on my own since then, I always look forward to March when other writers I know publish their thoughts and observations, too. The last post of the month is traditionally meant to be a reflection of the experience, so here's mine.

Not gonna lie, this year was something of a disappointment. Although my friend Mary wrote every day (yay, Mary!), none of the other members of my unofficial team participated. Oh, I get it. These are stressful times: everyone is busy, and many are overwhelmed. Finding the bandwidth to write is hard and not always worth it. I missed the camaraderie and connection, though, and I hope next year finds us all in a better place, ready to slice away.

As for me? I'll be here tomorrow.

Type Cast

We saw Mickey 17 today. Bong Joon Ho's latest offering is a satire about a four-and-a-half-year space journey and technology to "reprint" human beings from recycled biomatter after they have died and upload their consciousness, in order to make them "expendable." The title refers to the main character, Mickey,  who is on his 17th iteration after intentionally being exposed to radiation, nerve gas, hostile environments, viruses, vaccine trials, and other accidents by a corrupt organization, all in the name of colonizing a new planet and establishing a society based on their questionable values.

It's not a bad movie, and I wouldn't be surprised if we hear more about it as award season approaches. Like so many satires, the villains are cartoonish and one-dimensional, with a nod to current political figures, but the other characters are both comical and sympathetic, and by the end of the movie, they are well-developed and believable.

Rob Pattinson plays the title character, Mickey, and he delivers an engaging and thought-provoking performance as an expendable. He has had some relevant experience, though. After playing Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga and Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the guy should have the themes of mortality, immortality, and humanity on lock.

The Saddest Sight I Never Saw

The tableau was heartbreaking: a female cardinal lay still on the driveway up to our complex while a male hopped around her in what could only be described as distress. Our route took us the other way, but once we were home, we couldn't leave the birds there. "I don't want him to see her flattened, or worse, injured himself," Heidi said, and I agreed.

We gathered a dustpan, a plastic bag, and birdseed and then headed back to the scene on our mission of mercy to move her out of traffic. As we rounded the turn in the drive, however, we saw that the birds were gone!

"How?" asked Heidi.

"She was probably just enjoying a dust bath on the warm pavement," I guessed, "and he thought it had gone on long enough!"