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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