My second post today about walking. But that's how it goes. Things come up when they come up, and I blog them as I encounter them, as if there's so such thing as saving them for a better place in some more curated sequence of posts. No, we must stumble ever forward.
Now, just on the topic of Wordsworth's walks, may I strongly recommend this episode of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast, "Wordsworth Revisited: The Leech-Gatherer"? Here's the poem it's about, "Resolution and Independence."
And here's McCarthy's book, "Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain" (Amazon). How old was the son? 19.
Posts
38 comments:
I frequently walk on trails between beaver ponds in a nearby park.
The frogs are croaking, the birds are singing, and nobody is interrupting my thoughts.
Walking did not end up so well for Virginia ...
Walking is my go to exercise. Clears the head and relieves stress. It's totally underrated as a way to lose weight and maintain cardiovascular health.
It helps having a Golden Retriever that needs to be walked twice a day, every day of the year.
This is why I would never listen to music or audio books while walking or running or rowing. It is a meditative state when you have to entertain yourself within your own mind. I also prefer not to have company. You either chat or feel like you ought to be unless the other person is especially comfortable with silence.
Definitely true- I am a firm believer in the idea.
Hiking, climbing, sitting, away from dissonant sights and sounds, in close connection to nature.
Schopenhauer walked an hour after dinner to the end of his life. And he’s probably the smartest guy I ever read!
I once read a collection of letters by Thomas Mann during his SoCal exile. A leitmotif was that the Post Office could not decide his house was in Pacific Palisades or Westwood. I think we can file that under "Nice Problems to Have".
I once read a collection of letters by Thomas Mann during his SoCal exile. Besides how wonderful a place it was for walks, a leitmotif was that the Post Office could not decide whether his house was in Pacific Palisades or Westwood. I think we can file that under "Nice Problems to Have".
What a coincidence - I just read this article five minutes before reading this post: https://www.barrons.com/articles/joys-of-a-walking-trip-a3fea932
Look forward to reading Andrew McCarthy's book, since I did the Camino de Santiago in Sep/Oct 2021.
What a coincidence. I just read this article not five minutes before reading this post: https://www.barrons.com/articles/joys-of-a-walking-trip-a3fea932
I look forward to reading Andrew McCarthy's book. I did the Camino de Santiago in Sep/Oct 2021.
Don't forget the tour of the seven bridges of Konigsberg
Lucky to live next to a mountain. Wife/I hike 2-4 miles daily. Streams banging from CA storms.
I am pleased to be able to walk a great deal in retirement. Sometimes I listen to podcasts and dictate ideas for posts into my phone, sometimes I daydream, sometimes I try to work through a very specific set of ideas. Sometimes I even notice my surroundings!
Not only does it work in bad weather, it may work especially well in bad weather.
I can't get the thought out of my mind of Willian Wordsworth swearing while walking. "F-ing Tintern Abbey, What?"
My first reaction was to suggest a need for a "Homespun Bullshit" tag, but that's not quite right. I'm looking for a pithy way to describe homespun bullshit that is gussied up by the NYT to become highfalutin' through association with literary figures and assorted intellectuals. The Germans probably have a lengthy compound word that does the rick.
Old and slow said..."This is why I would never listen to music or audio books while walking or running or rowing. It is a meditative state when you have to entertain yourself within your own mind. I also prefer not to have company."
Even if you're young and fast, it's best to avoid headphones while walking or running alone in the woods. You shouldn't make it too easy for critters of all kinds to sneak up on you.
Nietzche was a great walker. Then he went nuts. Correlation?
Other great walker? Harry Truman. Charles Dickens, and President Adams (son of the first).
Not great walkers? WFB (too boring). FDR. LBJ. Lincoln. Stalin. Churchill.
And Hilter? wanted to retire after WWII, and walk around nothern italy, painting and seeing the great art.
OH, I forgot GK Chesteron. A great beer drinker and walker. I try to walk as much as I can, but don't have time. Will walk more when I retire.
By contrast, Blaise Pascal in 1654 noted that "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."
I can attest that it certainly works for me, and always has - either with another, or by myself.
Walking is my go-to alone time. I love my morning walks. It is where I do my best thinking. In the evening my wife joins me for a shorter version. Both are wonderful 'getaways' from our routines, from the computer, or TV, or whatever else we're plugged into. It's a reminder that outside of all the noise, the world exists and it keeps going with or without our participation.
McCarthy's book sounds like the movie "The Way", by Emilio Estevez, starring his father.
Virginia Woolf’s not exactly a trusted advisor for mental health practices.
When the gym shut down during covid, I took up walking. My arthritic knee got better. Haven't been able to solve any profound problems though.
I used to listen to music while out walking but, for the reasons others have already mentioned, I don't any longer. My walks are happier without it.
The 400th anniversary of Blaise Pascal's birth is in June; I forget the date.
Just noticed the Bill Bryson tag here. Presumably for the great A Walk in the Woods, not otherwise mentioned. I originally read the first chapter in Outside Magazine, which I devoured for decades before it became largely worthless. I've also read the Bryson book (and most of the rest of his oeuvre). Not without faults, but an interesting writer.
--gpm
I completely agree. I am an attorney who mostly drafts briefs and other documents, and whenever I am struggling with how to structure an argument or to address a thorny issue, I step away and take a walk. I used to do laps around my floor when I worked for a large law firm, and now that I work from home, I either walk around the block or just wander around my house for a couple of minutes. It doesn't take long. There is just something about moving your legs that resets the brain.
I've always hiked or walked, but once I retired, I stepped up my game. Now I just pick a direction and walk 3 or 4 miles before starting back. Or I find a park I haven't visited before, and challenge myself to walk all the trails. It's better than sitting in a recliner in front of the tube. And, of curse, the dog prefers it.
I do a lot of walking. I think deeply about major questions, like "Can I get over the pond with a seven-iron?"
It keeps me sane.
Can one assume that Wordsworth was not listening to podcasts while he was walking?
I enjoy walking and try to do two and a half miles a day outside. At the end of the day I usually wind up with four or five miles. My neighbor, Barb, walks everywhere. For summer fun she'll walk around Lake Geneva.
The Camino de Santiago is definitely on my list of things to do once I have a bit more time.
I agree. When I am stumped I take a walk and let things percolate. Usually clears things up pretty well.
boatbuilder--you know Twain's crack, I'd wager.
"Golf is a good walk, ruined."
I meet fewer interesting people while pedaling my stationary bike in the basement than while walking outside. On the other hand, it seldom rains in the basement.
Author Kevin J. Anderson dictates a chapter a day while hiking up into the Rocky Mountains. Then, since he has to get home, he dictates another chapter on the way down.
I’m not as productive as Kevin, but I sometimes manage 3,000 words per hour on my treadmill.
I shoot for eight miles per day, but as the season gets warmer, I find the experience less and less contemplative.
Have to scout the ground for rattlesnakes, you know.
Nietzche was a great walker. Then he went nuts. Correlation?
No, that came from his being such a great wanker ...
Nietzche was a great walker. Then he went nuts. Correlation?
No, that came from his being such a great wanker ...
Post a Comment