The Beginning

I have considered the idea of creating a blog for some time now. Three factors converged to make this the moment to take the plunge.

Several weeks ago, Tricia and I watched Julie & Julia. It is a delightful film based on Julie Powell's effort to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in a year and to blog about her experiences.

The movie further whetted my desire to create a blog. But what would be the topic? I like to eat, but I don't cook much.

The new year arrived, bringing yet another resolution to take care of myself - to exercise and to eat well. Having made such resolutions time after time, with new years not necessarily being needed to make them, and having sometimes kept them well but always falling short, I nonetheless made them again in the spirit that past efforts have not been failures but have been practices and learning experiences.

Then on January 2, I attended the wedding of a daughter of friends. As the cake was cut (I ate none), one of my friends made a toast in which she thanked those of us who were present for our role in nurturing her daughter and supporting her family in such a way that this moment had arrived. It took a community to bring her daughter and the man she married to this point in their lives. It will take a community to sustain them in their life together.

And the tumblers clicked - through a blog I can lean into my community for support as I seek to work on my self-care. It is an opportunity to let others know how I am doing and what I am doing and to support me in prayer and thoughts and other ways.

A tad narcissistic? Of course. But that seems to be the definition of a blog.

So what will you find here in future posts?

Reflections on my effort to exercise and eat well and musings on that process. I went to the gym tonight and used the treadmill - walking 1.75 miles. Step count for the day is 8,487 (goal is 10,000).

But there may also be observations on film (the movie at the gym was Finding Nemo) and sports and music and current events and my travels and national parks and issues of peace and justice and maybe even a touch of theology from time to time. It remains to be seen what all ends up here . . . that's part of the beauty and wonder of being on the road . . . you are never quite sure where it will lead.

So come along and see what we discover along the Graybeard Trail.