April 5 is National Walking Day: 'Keep your eyes on the horizon'
From the end of March and throughout April, Venus is the bright morning star, low in the east before dawn. Jupiter enters the western sky before sunrise. Mars moves retrograde, its red glow complementing the scarlet eye of Taurus along the western horizon after dark. Saturn, in Sagittarius, travels above the southern tree line as the sun brightens the east. Cancer and Gemini lie in the center of the sky on the cusp of spring, late in the evening. Winter Pleiades lead Orion just below the ecliptic in the northwest. Before sunrise, Hercules climbs to the middle of the heavens. The Summer Triangle, which includes bright Vega, Altair and Deneb, is just a little behind Hercules to his east. The March 30 lunar perigee, when the moon is closest to earth, could mean more late ice and snow. (Countryside's full name is Countryside and Small Stock Journal. A lot of Poor Will's Almanack has to do with farm things, flocks, herds, bees, orchards, crops. Sometimes I get taken aback when I read, but do not assimilate correctly. For example: Full moon is approaching. The recommended lunar practice is to tattoo your kids one week before or after the full of the moon. OK, the penny finally dropped. Baby goats, not children.)
April 5 is National Walking Day. Take advantage of the extra hour of daylight to walk 30 minutes in celebration of the American Heart Association's Lace up and Go campaign. Walking it the best exercise because it is absolutely free – no need to mortgage the property to buy Pilates equipment or join some trendy gym. If spring chores have you a bit frazzled, a short walk will take that edge off. Here are just a few of the benefits of putting one foot in front of the other. If you struggle with weight, a short walk a couple of times each week will help you lose a few pounds. Regular walking can help manage and even prevent many serious and life-threatening conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. A regular walk will keep your bones strong. Not only will your mood lift as you are walking, it will help you sleep better if you've been lying awake at night, fretting about things done and undone. A regular walk will also help to improve your balance and coordination. No one wants to be unbalanced. As you walk, try to be aware of your posture. Keep your head up and your shoulders straight. This might be more difficult than it sounds at first, especially if you've been walking through fields or gardens, trying to spot emerging plants or weeds. When you are walking for pleasure, keep your eyes on the horizon. You never know what you might spot in the distance. Remember to stretch for a minute or two before you set off. It'll help prevent cramps. (Countryside)
Friends of Harrisburg District Library will conduct its annual meeting on Sunday, April 9. The business meeting will start at 1:30 p.m., followed by the program at 2 p.m. The speaker will be Mark J. Wagner, a professor at SIU. His topic will be "The Wreck of the American in Southern Illinois: a Flatboat on the Ohio River." This is about a pre-Civil War boat that sank around Cairo and the recovery of the same. All are invited to attend. Refreshements will be served.
Twice this month, I have traveled 145 to Massac. Daffodils are blooming everywhere. There are stands of flowers where houses once stood. Some I remember. Some were gone long before I started driving this road. It is not a new road; I started driving it when I was in high school. It was a fun drive and I could see for miles. Usually it was early Saturday morning with mom, brother and me. I got to drive. Almost lost that privilege when mom decided that 90 was just a bit speedy. Some of the flowers are where no house would have been. Perhaps the bulbs were pushed there in the construction of the road. They are hardy, these harbingers of spring. More than anything, I wonder about the women who planted these Easter flowers. Did they bring them as remembrances of a childhood or former home? Were they a gift from a welcoming neighbor? What happened to their homes and families? Did the fields play out? Was there tragedy? Did they move to a new house? And, if so, did they take some of the daffodils to help make a new house a home? I will never know. Still, I enjoy their flowers.
The election is April 4. America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote.