Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Paying attention to the immediate environment

Mrs ERJ and I walked around the block yesterday.

What commonly happens is we walk half way and then decide to not complete the trip. Rather, we turn at the half-way point and walk back.

I can hear the joke in your head...swam half-way across the English Channel, decided it was too far and turned around.

The difference is the wind.

When the temperatures are in the twenties and thirties, a ten mile per hour wind makes it feel ten degrees colder.

In practice, the direction of the wind matters. Walking into the wind is colder because faces are exposed and wind challenges zippers and buttons.

Walking around "our block" the first half is sheltered from winds. The same cannot be said of the last half. There, a half mile of soybean stubble is the only thing to the west and south of the road.

Old dogs
Our Boston Terrier is blind. Boston Terriers have a very short coat. He is also smaller than standard.

He is a genius at finding the warmest place to sleep. Depending on wind direction and solar loading he will be one of three places during the day.

I think part of his genius is that he is not distracted by visual input.

1 comment:

  1. The wind is no joke. My wife and I ride a tandem side by side trike 3 days a week. We always ride into the wind going out, so as to have the wind at our backs returning. Makes the difference of 5-6 miles vs. 10-14 miles.

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