And we’re walkin’! I did a warmup. I’ve been doing a pretty extensive warm-up before walking because, as you know, I’ve had Achilles tendon problems over the years. One year and a half ago, when I pretty near severed it, I pulled it completely apart. So that’s why I do the exercises. I remember some of them from when I was in physical therapy. I guess it’s helping. So far, I haven’t had any issues since this most recent restart.

I’ve been able to go for several weeks, having at least one walk per week. I’m feeling a little fatigued already in my legs. I wouldn’t say it’s too much of a warm-up. But I haven’t done anything else today except sit in front of a computer. I’m not sure what it is. But I was planning to go a little farther today. I may just do the two miles or even less, depending on how I’m feeling. The important thing is to get out there. Getting out here is in itself progress.

It’s a beautiful day at Lake Fayetteville, that’s for sure. It’s kind of warm, seventy-four in the car. There’s quite a lot of wind going on. It is still increasingly fall. More and more leaves are coming off the trees. And the other ones are turning lovely colors of gold and red. It’s an awesome time of year, especially to be walking around the lake through these woods.

I don’t know what’s going on; maybe I’ll sit down. I had water, and I ate and got almost seven hours of sleep. My weight is 269, so I think I’m carrying pretty much what I was the last time I came out. It feels heavier, though. Quick complaining and get to walking is what I should do.

As a topic for today, I thought I might talk about life and death. I’m technically a philosopher, I guess, but I can really only talk about my own experience, and that’s what this podcast is based on. My experience. And I experienced a funeral last week. I’m a friend of the family so I went to the funeral. I’ve been to four funerals in the last ten years, so it’s not like I go to a lot of them.

As I’m walking, my back is starting to tighten up, but these are the things I have to go through to get where I’m going.

The person who was being “funeralized” had lived to be ninety years old. And I think as we go along, life expectancies increase. However, COVID was so impactful that it actually decreased the average life expectancy for the first time in many years.

When somebody dies, what happens to me anyway, if it is someone I was close to, is that I remember the things we shared that nobody else knows about. And that is the saddest thing of all. It makes you feel alone because now there’s no one to share that with. And, of course, it makes you think of your own mortality. One thing we all will end up doing is passing from this life into whatever comes next.

So what do I think? I don’t know. I want my life to last a long time. But more important than the long part is the happy, healthy, active part. And the right-up-to-the-very-end part. I think most people will tell you that your health declines to a certain point and that life is such a strain that death is a welcome thing. It shouldn’t be a scary or controversial thing to say. I think it’s natural.

I’m not sure death is something to be feared. Probably, the process of dying is unpleasant. But death itself is a release from all that. So, I don’t fear death itself. I mean, nobody knows what is beyond. Even in my faith, there is no definitive concept of what lies beyond. There is plenty of symbolism — streets of gold, pearly gates, and many mansions in one house. I don’t know. Nobody really knows. So I suppose it could be torture of the soul or something. But since I don’t know, there’s no way to really prepare for it except just to try to be the best person I can be within the bounds of my faith.

This is also a time of year when we celebrate death, whether it’s Halloween, All Souls Day, or the Mexican Day of the Dead.

I just saw a guy with one of those air machines. But whatever malady was making him need one of those, it wasn’t keeping him from exercising. It’s inspiring. As is the beauty out on Lake Fayetteville. I’m fortunate to live in the middle of the United States, and we get all seasons here. Fall is my favorite.

This is just a walking and talking episode, like I did in the very early episodes of Running: A FEVER. I’m ashamed of how out of shape I am, but in the words of Doyle Bramhall, I’m doing pretty good for the shape I’m in.