Mon 5/18/09

A Daily Walk With DietPower

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

Some followers of this page have asked to see a picture of the photographer himself. My son John snapped this photo in our sun-dappled lane this afternoon.

As in any photograph, the details tell stories.

Notice, for example, that I wear unusually thick glasses. I have been nearsighted since I was a toddler, but when I wear my glasses my vision is better than 20:20. I still remember a miraculous moment, at age seven, when Dr. Brandt slid my first pair of Buddy Hollys onto my nose. Ever since, I've appreciated seeing as a starving man appreciates food. And of course I love all things optical, from fine cameras to microscopes and telescopes. (I made my own telescopes as a teenager, and the most fun I ever had as a magazine writer was doing an article on one of the greatest manufacturing feats of all time: making the Hubble Telescope mirror. You can read it here.)

If you look closely at my right index finger, you'll see that it seems a little shorter and pointier than normal. That's because the finger had an encounter with a whirling lawn-mower blade when I was seven. Dr. Forcey, our family physician, cleverly sewed the tip back on. This was many years before such operations became routine, yet he stitched so precisely that the nerves apparently reconnected, giving me almost-normal sensation. The incident also introduced me to music: for physical therapy, my impoverished parents bought me a used piano, on which I can still play tolerable Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms. For more about that, read a 2003 Memorial Day note from the King Street Church bulletin.

Although I'm wearing a Top-Flite visor, I don't play golf. (Well, I did once, in 1983. I think that was the same year I played tennis.) I can't remember where I bought this misleading headgear, but I've used it for more than a decade to shade my eyes. Keeping the sun- and skylight off my thick glasses improves my visual contrast the same way cleaning your windshield improves yours. This helps me take better pictures.

I'm sure you've noticed the harness connected to my camera. I wear this because I dropped and broke my old camera while shooting icicles on Middle River Road last February. There went $500. If the new camera slips from my grasp, it will end up dangling safely at my knees.

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, May 17: A Wild Geranium

Saturday, May 16: War Flowers

Friday, May 15: A Mysterious Barn

Thursday, May 14: Who Invented the Microscope?

Wednesday, May 13: The Kitchen Sink

Tuesday, May 12: Slow Down!

Monday, May 11: What Lilacs Are For

Sunday, May 10: Mama Butterfly

Saturday, May 9: Gone to Seed

Friday, May 8: A Pack of Boston Terriers

Thursday, May 7: Underground Passage

Wednesday, May 6: White Violet

Tuesday, May 5: Singing His Heart Out

Monday, May 4: Kenny's Secret

Sunday, May 3: Monument to an Afternoon

Saturday, May 2: Gasoline Rainbow

Friday, May 1: The Duck and the Bashful Maiden

Thursday, April 30: A Poison Ivy Sandwich

Wednesday, April 29: The Very Picture of Spring

Tuesday, April 28: A Busy Bumblebee

Monday, April 27: Electric Pink

Sunday, April 26: Saturday Night Special

Saturday, April 25: An Old Oak Falls

Friday, April 24: How an Ant Sees a Daffodil

Thursday, April 23: The Nameless Brook

Wednesday, April 22: Weeding Time

Tuesday, April 21: Wet Apple Buds

Monday, April 20: Mr. Allen and the Crew Team

Sunday, April 19: Bloodroot II

Saturday, April 18: Green Jellybeans

Friday, April 17: Bloodroot

Thursday, April 16: Skunk Cabbage III

Wednesday, April 15: Find the Critter

Tuesday, April 14: Blessing of the Animals

Monday, April 13: The Crow Who Said "Wow!"

Sunday, April 12: A Quirky Church

Saturday, April 11: Self-Portrait in a Pothole

Friday, April 10: Easter flowers

Thursday, April 9: Dumb as a Squirrel

Wednesday, April 8: April Snow

Tuesday, April 7: Egg Trees, Connecticut Style

Monday, April 6: I Carry My Lunch

Sunday, April 5: A Tree in Spring

Saturday, April 4: Pigs with Drivers Licenses

Friday, April 3: Forsythia

Thursday, April 2: Skunk Cabbage II

Wednesday, April 1: Mystery of the Hanging Shoes

Tuesday, March 31: Downy Woodpecker

Monday, March 30: 300-Year-Old House

Sunday, March 29: The Broken Fence

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

Friday, March 27: Skunk Cabbage

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