Chris' Blog

The point of this blog has always been bone simple and it's worked pretty well: We wanted a place where I could talk a little about the ongoing struggle to get and stay Younger . And - more important - where you could comment and talk a little about what YOU are doing in the same Sacred Struggle. It is a community...that's what! So chime in.
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THE LAKE HOUSE AND JACKSON HOLE
Off today for the magical Lake House (the "new camp" started in 1909 by my late Uncle Ben). Just a week but lots of biking, rowing and lolling about. Punctuated by trips to give talks in such dreadful places as JACKSON HOLE! Tough life. Hope to hand for a couple of days in Jackson Hole to do a hike or two. Oh boy.
THE LIMBIC PASSING
We're not going to go on endlessly about this but the friend who died recently...his funeral was on Monday and there are some relevant things.
It was a huge deal...1200 people, including the Mayor of New York...other known folks. But my pal was not a public figure and people only came because they liked him so much. Quite a remarkable turnout, in the circumstances. A huge out pouring of love, as they always say in such situations. But true, too.

I gave a eulogy.... I do talks all the time and am easy with it. But this one was tough.

But here's the thing: it is a good idea, I believe, to have a formal (as well as informal) ceremony. And it is a privilege and a half to be asked to speak...because it is so darned cathartic. EVERYONE felt better for having been there. And if it is appropriate to think of the dead doing something for the living...my pal did his wife and kids and all of us a huge favor by being so widely and intensely loved. Being present at such a massive, limbic feast made us all feel and be much better.

So the advice: build those pesky networks of friends and family in this life...they will mean everything to you, in extremis. And to your family after your passing.
A Death In The Family
Been away for a bit. Take a peek at the home page, if you missed it. Tough stuff.
BLUEBERRY MADNESS
My life is shamefully good fun. On Thursday, I flew up to Halfax, Nova Scotia, in Atlantic Canada to give a talk to the corporate retreat of the world's larges fruit company (the John Bragg Group) and, most importantly...the worlds largest purveyor of wild blueberries. Those are the tiny ones that you get in Maine in August that taste so much better than anything else.
No moral to the story except to repeat that it is widely held that Blueberries - which I adore - are just about the healthiest thing you can eat. And the people were lovely too. So eat 'em. (Frozen counts...the actual season only lasts a month).
GRAND CANYON HAY RIDE
On the home page today, I comment on a trip down the Colorado that has had me away for a while. It was not an athletic adventrue, really. But you would not think to try it, at my tender age, if you were not in decent shape. Another small plug for fitness as a key to the good and interesting and active life. Gotta have it.
YOGA FOOL!
When you get to be a little old guy, there's a good chance that you ought to do some yoga. Because you tend to tighten up...your core turns to mush and all that. So I've been doing it. Twice.
Mercy! it's hard. I feel like such a fool, compared to all the other kids in class. Especially the women. I may not keep it up, because I feel like such a dope, but i hope not. I have the funny feeling that it would be great for me. If I could bear it.
DOWN THE COLORADO
There are some lovely perks that sometimes go with our work. On Monday, Hilary and I are joining a grouip of major health club owners and managers to go by raft down the Grand Canyon. I am told by pals who've been that it's the trip of a lifetime. I'll report in a couple of weeks
Harry is on the mend...home and much better. Thank God.
Harry has the sniffles
Just a brief note to say that Harry - who is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar in all things - has had a serious, mystery illness the last two weeks. He's actually been in the hospital for some of that time. He is on the mend, thank God, but it is a scary reminder that there are some jokers in the deck of health. If there is anyone who deserves Never to be sick, it is Harry, the dear man. No fair. As you all know, he is the brain and the solid backbone of the NYN books, this site and everything else. Wish him well, fast.
A Randomness To Being Sick
Yesterday a nice looking guy stopped me in a supermarket and asked "Are you the book guy?" I was and, of course, he turned out to be a fan. Here's the thing: he had been a dedicated runner all his life and, with YNY, had added some other things to his regimen. And despite a terrific life style, he had lately had serious heart arrhythmia and was soon to have an operation.
The point: doing the YNY stuff improves your chances radically. But there is still some bad luck out there. The moral, to the extent there is one: get back into the exercise mode as soon as you can after a rough patch. It will help with recovery. But there is still such a thing as rotten luck.
FIRST BIKE RIDE
biking in springtime up here in theBerkshires...roughly as good as it gets. And the early rides whisk me back, in memory, to learning to ride...in the spring...68 years ago. There was a two-step "boarding" spot...designed for horses. And a handsome, blue bike. With a horn. I forget who set me spinning on my way...on the gravel driveway back in our Peabody Mass farmhouse. Probably my mother. Maybe one of The Girls... the three older sisters. But I do, dimly, remember the thrill of having it stay up. Of cranking the pedals and having it keep on going. A miracle. I happen to think that biking is a bit of a miracle (the first one was only invented in the 19th century...an off-shoot of a kind of scooter, developed for the military). It was a brilliant insight...to intuit the gyropscopic quality of a two-wheeled vehicle. And what a joy forever after. For me, every spring of cycling is a faint, happy echo of that first surprising spin...Hey, this works!
THE COOPER INSTITUTE
In case you missed it, may I give a plug for my comments about Cooper on the Home Page today. I was down there for a couple of days, this week, and was hugely impressed. A very interesting place where they are doing exactly the right thing. Take a peek.
COOPER INSTITUTE TRIP
I have been hearing about the famous Cooper Institutre in Dallas, long before starting to work on the books. It is, apparently, the Mother Church for great fitness and a medicine-based approach to wellness.
At rather long last, I am making the pilgrimage tomorrow...to see the facility, have a major physical and so on. I'll let you know what I learn
Has anyone else done this?
RUBADUB

I had some weird achiness the past week. Dunno why.
Anyhow, found a terrific masseuse up in the country and had a great massage on Saturday. And the achiness went away. A novelty for me and it cannot be a universal prescription. Still, it was a treat an I mention it for what it's worth. I.E. sometimes a good rubadub can be a godsend.
YOU'VE GOT THE VAPORS
Here's some advice for the days you just don't feel like it. You're just back from a long trip...you had a rotten sleep...whatever. Okay, advice: Do some damn thing anyhow, it's important. If you default to aerobics, do long and slow for half an hour at least. But take it easy on yourself...or next time you won't believe it when you tell yourself you "only have to do long and slow for half an hour." And you won't do anything. THE GREAT TRICK IS TO DO SOMETHING. Keep the string going. Keep the stakes high against ever doing nothing. There you go.
WORKOUTS AND TRAVEL
It is true that travel makes it awfully hard to work out. Also, at my tender age, a four hour flight hits about like a mild cold. WORK OUT ANYHOW. Even if it's just a half hour on the elliptical in a hotel gym (or a wierd Casino gym, like me yesterday). It helps.
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