BHSO Week 60!

So last September, my friend Ayako and I started walking the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook.  It is roughly 320 steps (or something in that neighborhood) up a steep hill about a mile from my house and on a clear day, has a 360 degree view, including the Pacific Ocean.  There are switchback trails, if you don't want to do the steps, which are uneven, and some are steep.

Me and A at the top

At first we went a few weeks in a row, we didn't have any plans or goals to make this a weekly thing, it was just kind of a fun thing to do.  I had been taking Maiya, but maybe only once every few months.  Saori, my sister in law said something becomes a habit after 12 or 20 something times.  So at first, we were kind of working towards a habit.  Weeks turned into months.  Seasons changed, and suddenly we were at 20 weeks, then 30.  And we kept going.  Our "guideline" was that we had to find one hour between the two of us every weekend (somewhere between Friday and Monday.  Some weeks were easier than others, but we usually went on Saturday or Sunday mornings.    I did enjoy seeing the physical changes to the hillside.  Definitely Spring was my favorite season, although those weeks were harder on me because of allergies.  Enjoyed clear sunny days, and the occasional beautiful sunsets.

A and M near the bottom of the steps

I knew we were really committed the first time we walked it in the rain, once it was raining pretty hard and we were the only ones there.  A third option is to walk up the road, which is steep, but much easier.  Or the time when it was Spring Forward and we went at 7am.   Or when we went after dark.  Or last week when we went at 6am on a weekday morning.  

A couple months ago, in September, we hit our one year anniversary.  What an accomplishment.  Maiya joined us on maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of them. She tended to go more in the warm sunny days, when we didn't go to early, or when we went in afternoons or evenings.  She prefers taking the street up, but she always kicks my butt on the steps, having to wait for me at every level.

Me and Maiya in our "peace hoodies"
in memory of Trayvon Martin

Anyways, a nice thing that has happened, is that even though it's never easy for me, I am breathing better, and I no longer need the inhaler as I did when we started this weekly walk.

It's also been nice to have a consistent walking buddy in Ayako.  Although we had lost touch for a few years, that hour each week has been a nice time to reconnect.  If it wasn't for her checking in every week about setting the time, I would have never done this on my own.

So, this past week was Year 2, Week 8, or 60 weeks.  And that feels good.

Peace.  Out.
NaBloPoMo12 #3

Year of the Dragon, that's me!

Year of the Dragon, that's Me!

Year of the Dragon:  Notice the growing out first-time cellophaned, but fading red hair and the grey roots poking out?  See the tiny wrinkles?  Actually, my eyes are open.  I am literally (I can't say literally without thinking of Rob Lowe on Parks and Recreation, a show I am enjoying nightly on Netflix at the moment) serious that my eyes are open in this picture.  Anyways, I am getting a Metro TAP card for the train/bus pass and I needed a picture.  I think that me, Maiya and several coworkers tried to take pictures of me, dozens over the last few days for me to submit, and they all turned out goofy.  This one, has got to be the goofiest, and no, this one won't be on the train pass.

Anyways, as usual, I digress, again.  It is Year of the Dragon, and no, sweet and naive of you to guess that I am 36, but yes, as of today, I am 48 years old.  When I talk about childhood friends, then we start saying, "oh yeah, we've been friends for 40 something years."  Anyways, I'm in much better health than I was at 46 (Blog Post Forty-sicks!) and for that I am extremely grateful.  Grateful to my dear friend Victor Shibata, who passed away earlier this year, who helped me with health and energy issues ranging from fertility to asthma and many other ailments over the last 15 years or so.  I miss you Victor.

Picture taken with the Iha's, a Cuban Japanese family we visited in Cuba in 2001
 (me far left, Tony seated, and Victor far right)

So on my birthday, one of my "wishes" and my "hopes," is that I can stay healthy and be lucky enough to keep watching my beautiful, funny, spunky, smart kid grow up.

Peace, out.
NaBloPoMo12 #2