High adventure at low altitude
There’s a difference between summer peaks and winter peaks. In winter, you summit quickly because the peaks you reach are typically found at the end of a chairlift. You start the day at sea level in San Francisco, let’s say, and with a little luck and a tailwind you are standing at the top...
Before they’re gone: A different kind of bucket list
Normally, a bucket list is litany of things you want to see or experiences you want to have before you are no longer of this earth. Or, more precisely, before you are too much of this earth. Now the Weather Channel has given us a list of things you want to see before they...
Kiss your sweet pass goodbye
Do active old people—those who hike, bike, ski and get about outdoors—think of themselves as self-reliant, fiscal conservatives? Do they see themselves as people who are proud to pay their fair share? Probably not. Or they shouldn’t, if they do. We’re not talking about Social Security or Medicare here. (Yes, those programs do...
Boomers are all about the couch
A post earlier this week contained a startling public health nugget: most Baby Boomers—52 percent—report zero physical activity. No jogging, no biking, no backpacking. No walking the dog. No wading in shallow water. No golf with a cart. This is head-swiveling because (one) it’s an intellectual challenge to conceive of zero physical activity and...
Amazon wants your money, oldster
Jeff Bezos has built Amazon, the web’s premier online retailer. He’s recovered Apollo engines from the bottom of the ocean. He’s building a spaceship. And now, because he’s a man who loves a challenge, he’s setting up an on-line store for seniors. The problem with this business model should be obvious: Current Amazon...
Coming at You: The Recreati Mindset 2013
We’ll be launching the second edition of the Recreati Mindset next week. The Mindset is our little welcome to all those who turn 50 this year. (If you haven’t noticed it before, check out the section labeled Pages, at the top of the right column below.) If you know someone who reaches this golden threshold...
Failure to crunch
It might not be your fault. If you don’t like to exercise, or if the exercise you do doesn’t seem to count for much, there are reasons that have nothing to do with your discipline, your will, or your moral fiber. You are not a puss. It’s your DNA. The Wall Street Journal recently...
Travel notes: Do not try to leap over volcanic steam cracks
This ought to be an unnecessary warning, along with “Don’t pet the bison.” But it remains true that what is obvious to you and me might not be clear to someone else. In this case, a 15-year-old visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Said teen thought it would make an excellent story if he were to...
More noise and chatter on retirement
A wintery mix of news about retirement savings over the past few weeks. There’s some variation in the details but a consistent underlying message, which is that you will die poor, Boomer. And your generation will likely impoverish the generations coming after it. (Here’s the upside: we are told by a study of cheery Germans...
Jackson Hole fills gap, removes snow
The citizens Jackson Hole, Wyoming (population 9,710)—an almost-gateway to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and a pleasant tourist town in its own right, if you don’t mind the town square with its frankly creepy antler arches—has taken on the job that couldn’t be managed by government of the United States of America (population 313,914,040)....
Missed you
Did you miss us? Apologies for checking out there. We had a thing. Went on longer than expected. Back now and happy to be so. Photo: Sleeping Buddha at Long Son Pagoda, Nha Trang by Daniel Persson via Wikimedia Commons.
