Mon 3/30/09

A Daily Walk With DietPower

Walking is the best exercise for weight loss. And the things you see!

I've taken dozens of pictures of this house, from precisely this spot. I'll probably show you more examples from time to time.

The house is 300 years old. I doubt that the sugar maple is that old, but it's probably over 150, which would make it a sapling during the Civil War.

See the rhododendron behind the rock wall? I like to watch its leaves change with the weather. They're temperature-sensitive. During a cold snap, they hang straight down and furl themselves, to conserve heat. On a scorching summer's day, however, they splay to radiate heat. In fact, you can read the temperature by taking the inverse of the angle they assume: In zero weather, you'll find them hanging straight up and down (90 degrees), whereas in 90-degree heat they'll umbrella to 0 degrees). Today, with the temperature in the mid forties, they hung at 45 degrees.

See the Eastern white pines at right? They're famous for their fast growth, towering trunks, and the unpredictable shapes of their crowns. (As a boy growing up in Pennsylvania, I learned the profiles of all the white pines marching up the mountainside opposite our kitchen window. I even gave some of them names.) You've seen one product of the Eastern white pine in paintings of clipper ships: its strong, flexible trunks were often used for the mainmast.

I don't know the name of the owner of this house, but one day I'll knock on the door and find out.

About this page: Precisely at noon each day, I step out of my office for a 3.5-mile walk around my Connecticut neighborhood. I carry a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TX5 pocket camera with a Leica 10x optical zoom lens. My object is to make an interesting photograph of at least one thing that is different that day. I post the results here, hoping they will inspire you and your friends to walk, too.  —Terry Dunkle, DietPower founder and CEO.

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All My Yesterdays

Sunday, March 29: The Broken Fence

Saturday, March 28: "You're Such a Delight"

Friday, March 27: Skunk Cabbage

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