And we’re walking! A couple is trying to fly a kite in this crazy Arkansas wind. It’s beautiful, even if it’s not working very well for them. Many people are out here today, but I’m still close to the parking lot. It’s a beautiful day. I think the temperature is at about the high point of the day, 82 degrees. I’m wearing my fitness watch today, so I” be able to give you a good step count. I will probably do a similar distance as we usually do, about a mile and a half or so.

I had some comments about the episode that came out last Wednesday. Two different people said they thought I sounded depressed. That concerned me a little bit, so I went and listened to it myself. I thought maybe it was just because it was early in the morning. I was on my bike and perhaps just had some low energy. And I agreed I sounded depressed. I don’t like when that happens for the sake of you, my listeners. But I do get depressed, and I try to be legit. But there always should be a positive aspect. Out of the bad comes the good. I was reading a meditation out of this book that I sometimes read sometimes in the morning when I have time. I may have mentioned it before, it’s Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. The idea was to be grateful when bad things happen or when you have difficulty in your life because God always makes those things valuable. Some way, He’s going to turn it around and bring some good out of it. So, I try to look at things that way. I had a not-so-pleasing episode, and the good that comes from that is that I’m trying to do better and to be more positive while at the same time being honest and realistic about my life. So when I’m not pleased with my own performance, the good that comes of out that is: Sometimes it’s just trying harder. Sometimes, I have to dig deeper, understand why these things are happening, and try to get to their root cause.

But all of this has inspired me to come out here today. I also want to point out that even though I was depressed, I still put out an episode. And I’m back on the trail recording again today.

After hearing these comments, I thought, “Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this podcast if it’s going to be negative, even if it’s unintentional. If I can’t put something out there that will be inspirational, maybe I shouldn’t be doing it at all.”

But that just doesn’t fit in with my attitude the whole time I’ve been doing this. We’re now in our seventh year of the podcast, so we’ve done a lot of episodes, and we’ve been doing this for quite a long period of time, I think. There might be some stats somewhere that say the average number of episodes or length of time a podcast lasts. We go back a long way.

People who come past me going the other way see me talking to myself. They may just think I’m on the phone. Honestly, they probably don’t even hear me or pay any attention to me because most of them have something in their ears, no doubt listening to music. I certainly wouldn’t want to block out the sound of the wind here and the swaying of the trees, and if I was close enough, I could probably hear water lapping on the shore and all the good sounds of nature.

I’m glad I’m doing a podcast today. I hope it inspires you. It’s certainly been inspirational to me. We’re somewhere along the trail. I don’t think we’re at the turnaround point yet, but we’re getting there.

Hydration report: I prepared a bottle with some Mio Sport water and BCAAs powder mixed with some juice. Of course, I left them both sitting on the counter in my kitchen. So I’ll have to have those when I get back. But I think I’m doing okay today. I actually drank some water at work. I usually don’t do that. I usually have some decaf coffee and maybe a diet soda in the afternoon.

Six-tenths of a mile. I think I’ll go ahead and reverse course here. I was reading a book today that talked about beauty. I can’t remember the context, but it was the beauty of nature and the beauty of art, whether it was music, ballet, painting, or all the different kinds of art. And that’s what I’m experiencing today: the beauty of nature.

One of my healthcare providers, actually a PA, but that’s what you say now instead of doctor because we have all these practitioners that are trained but do not have doctor’s degrees. It’s a good thing. It takes some getting used to. But it’s a good thing because there has been a shortage of doctors for a long time. Just not enough. So I think going to the practitioners is a good thing so far. I haven’t seen any negative effects. So anyway, I think we’ll see more of those and less of doctors. It’s already happening. I can still go to my general practitioner. He has a PA in his office, but I can choose to see her or see him when I make an appointment. And I have some other providers that I see. I digress. I meant to say that this person told me that exercise has a lot of good effects. And I agree. Especially when I can come out here where I can see some trees and barely hear the traffic.

By now, you will have hopefully listened to at least and preferably watched the episode that I recorded at Mount Magazine State Park not long ago. I took a vacation there, and it was pretty nice. I love Mount Nebo; I’ve been there five times. But Mount Magazine is not too shabby. So check that out. I have some good photos and video that I’ll include. I haven’t actually produced the episode yet, so I’ve got some work to do.

Well, this episode hasn’t been depressing for me. I hope it hasn’t been depressing for you. I’m looking forward to hearing your reactions. So until then, if you’ve got the fever, keep it burning. If you don’t, then go out and catch the fever today. And I will talk to you next time on Running: A FEVER.