Exercise Cat

Clairee gets a better workout on my exercise bike than I do.

Read Full Post »

Reason is intel…

Reason is intelligence taking exercise. Imagination is intelligence with an erection.

— Victor Hugo

www.penspen.info

Read Full Post »

This Challenge I Cannot Do Alone

www.penspen.info

I have issued myself a challenge.

One year from now I want to walk from Atlanta to Washington, D.C.

“Gee, Pen, you had a heart attack just a little over a month ago. Are you crazy?!?’

Well, yeah, I am. I won’t deny my own lunacy. I embrace it. I celebrate my eccentricities because they enhance my writing.

Next question: Why on earth would you want to walk from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. which is approximately 600 miles???

Easy: To write a book.

First of all, I’ve never been to Washington, D.C. Never driven there, never flown there. All I know of D.C. is what I have seen in movies and television. I have no idea what the terrain looks like between Atlanta and D.C.

Second of all, my characters have to do this. If I cannot do it or have never done it, how can I expect them to do it?

The last reason may be the best reason: To motivate myself to stick with my diet and exercise program and stay healthy. I am a goal-oriented and project-oriented person. By setting this goal for myself I have created the motivation to stick with everything.

I have the route all mapped out. I first need to have someone drive me to D.C. from Atlanta along that route. Someone else needs to drive because I need to observe, make notes and take photos. They’d need a lot of patience because we need to stop often because my characters will need to stop often.

The average healthy person can walk about three miles an hour. My characters will be walking during the height of summer in July. Therefore, they would probably walk very early in the morning for about six hours and late in the evening for about six hours, resting during the hottest part of the day between noon and six p.m. Ergo, they would walk about twelve hours a day which means they would make about thirty-six miles a day.

At that rate, it would take them about twenty days to reach D.C.

There is a good reason they must walk the route instead of taking a vehicle. But I’m not about to divulge that. It’s the crux of the whole book!

Actually, they will begin from Atlanta riding horses. The horses get stolen at some point and they will have to walk from there.

Here’s the thing: this little event needs a lot of planning. And I can’t do that alone.

Nor do I intend to walk six hundred miles alone, either. I’m going to need a team. Maybe a big one.

There will be the planning and organizing team. Hopefully, enthusiastic people with fresh ideas about how to make this happen. They won’t be doing the walking, although they are welcome to come along.

Then there will be the team which actually accompanies me.

I’d like to take a couple of Marines with me for security. Or, at the very least, a couple of rough and rugged guys who would intimidate and deter others from bothering us. And I will probably need a physician, nurse or a cardiologist with me. Or maybe all three. Not to mention there are the horses to think about because, yes, I would like to start out riding the horses just as my characters will. Myself and at least two other people to ride and care for the horses along the way. I don’t know if the rest of the crew would want to ride the horses but they probably would keep up better that way. The horses will need to be returned to Atlanta from the point at which they would be stolen in the book.

I am already walking forty minutes a day. Compared to walking up to six hours at a time, that’s a drop in the bucket. But it is a vast improvement over shuffling just a few yards the first week after I got home from the hospital. Sheer determination got me up to this point and sheer determination will take me the rest of the way.

And what about the funding of this little challenge?

Oy! That’s probably the biggest roadblock I face. I certainly do not expect anyone to accompany me for free or to help plan and organize at no cost, though volunteers are always welcome. I expect to feed everyone (including the horses) and to compensate them when the journey is done. And we won’t be camping out like my characters will. We would definitely find the nearest Holiday Inn or Motel 6 or someplace else to stay. I’ve done the camping thing so I know what that’s like. Don’t really care to do that at this point.

And, yes, I inquired of my Cardiac Rehab team at DeKalb Medical if it would be possible to be in shape enough to accomplish this. They were surprised at the request, but said it is possible. I just have to work very hard. Hard work I’m not afraid of. Everything else, maybe, but not hard work.

So, there it is. There is my challenge to myself. I really want to write this book. And I really want to be able to write it from a perspective of having been there.

I have attempted to do some of my own big ideas in the past and have failed. But it was because I did not seek help in getting them done.

So I am seeking help for this. Because I want to do it.

Anyone in the Atlanta area who would like to help plan and organize, please contact me. Anyone with suggestions or ideas on how to make this happen, please contact me. Anyone wishing to offer moral support, yes, please contact me. I can be contacted via the Contact Form on my website at http://www.penspen.info.

Because I cannot do this alone.

Now if you will excuse me I have to get a new pair of walking shoes.

Read Full Post »