Author: CW Spencer

March 15, 2013 The other day I saw a TV commercial about diet and weight. What really grabbed my attention was that they were charging $19.99 for a bottle of tablets to make you gain weight–No, wait! If you ordered right then you could get a second bottle free (except for shipping and handling) and gain twice as much. Happy, non-paid non-actors proudly showed their new, curvy physiques, all thanks to the high-calorie weight-gain tablets. You can go that route if you want, or you can do what I did: hike the entire 1,444 miles …

March 2, 2013 I got a lump in my throat the other day while watching a TV special about amputees from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Especially the leg amputees. They had been fitted with prostheses and were celebrating each step they made on their new legs. I was celebrating right along with them at home. I well know how important walking has been to my own family. Just going back as far as Grandpa. Every day he could be seen walking the roads of Dorset Township, and quite often his shrimpy little grandson would …

February 2, 2013 I love dogs, but I don’t always trust them. Especially dogs that I don’t really know. Dad instilled that wariness in me one day long ago when he explained that a dog that licks you just might be testing your salt. That whole being-eaten thing was running through my mind one day as I was hiking the BT on a lonely back road in southern Ohio. After two dogs had harassed me a couple of bends-in-the-road ago, I made a mental note to team up with someone next time–maybe the Dog Whisperer …

January 21, 2013 A winter hike sponsored by the Miami Rivers Chapter of the Buckeye Trail Association took place a week ago. I pulled my car into the lot near the trail head before the others arrived. The air already felt unusually warm for a mid-January day, even though the sun was still barely peeking over the wooded hills at East Fork State Park. I planned to use the time to mentally prepare for what lay ahead on this day. This, to compensate not only for any lack of physical readiness, but also for the …