Born in the Sixties

My lifestyle, travel and motorcycling blog, focused on places to go and rides to try, with Michigan as a starting point.

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Daily Zen + Smiling Faces

February 05, 2024 by David Snodgrass in Day in the life

It is remarkable how broadly powerful a sunny weekend day can be. If it also is well above normal early February temperature, then a perfect day can exist.

I’ve read a few articles recently about how many steps are the correct amount to achieve daily. An argument was made that the widely stated “10,000 steps” is a number pulled from the sky; not really scientific. Is the number actually 7,000 steps? Or did the hunter-gatherers of yore actually move 18,000 steps a day, so that should be the number?

Like most things these days, there is no shortage of correct answers, all vigorously defended. But to my thinking, missing the point. On a surprisingly nice February day, the time spent outdoors in the sun to walk 4 miles (so about 9,000 steps for me) has far more value mentally and spiritually than any cardio or physical benefit from the exercise value. The number of folks out walking, biking, pushing strollers, and walking dogs all had one less layer of winter clothes, and broad smiles on their faces. Hard to measure the benefit, but so easy to see.

Looking upstream along the Tittabawassee River, near the original site of Dow Chemical, or at least the brine well part of the company.

February 05, 2024 /David Snodgrass
river walk, fitness
Day in the life

Up in the Air

April 19, 2020 by David Snodgrass in Day in the life

Giddy. In November 2019, I couldn’t sleep on a long overnight (or maybe it was overday) flight from Dubai to Seattle. 14 hours up in the air, winging over Iran, Russia, the North Pole…all the usual places you fly over. I had the good fortune to fly via Emirates, on both the 777 and the A380. While most everyone else was trying to sleep, I was standing up snapping pics of the expanse of the wide body jet. Emirates gives everyone a little bag full of goodies - socks, earplugs, eye mask. I imagine the next time we go up in the air, the eye masks will be replaced with another type of mask. Hard to know when that will be - but hopefully as soon as it is deemed safe, some level of travel for travels sake will begin again.

April 19, 2020 /David Snodgrass
Day in the life

Nightlife

April 01, 2020 by David Snodgrass in Day in the life
 

Uptown Butte at night, with the red glow of the Metals Bank neon and the headframes up the hlll decked out in LEDs.

April 01, 2020 /David Snodgrass
butte
Day in the life
Smooth. Very smooth.

Smooth. Very smooth.

A Year of Being Bald

December 01, 2019 by David Snodgrass in Day in the life

My family had a brush with cancer. While all the medical people do what they do, I tried to do the only thing I knew how to do. Offer to be present and be supportive. And hope for the best. As it turns out, the best did happen. Modern medicine is a miracle. And one of my meager attempts at solidarity - shaving my head - lasted almost exactly a year. I think I was bald much longer than the person with cancer. Good for him. Good for me. The hair grew back.

December 01, 2019 /David Snodgrass
family
Day in the life