Deep Eddy-- Iconic Austin

Eddy is a nice word. I don't mean the name. I mean the water term... eddy-- current of water running contrary to the main current. Austin has a much loved swimming pool called Deep Eddy just on the outskirts of downtown. The water is cool. But the phenomenon of "running contrary to the main current" is an apt description of Austin itself. I got here many decades ago, back when Willie Nelson was putting Austin on the map, he was bringing hippies and rednecks together in those days. Willie, now 80 years old, symbolized Austin's unique openness with his quixotic quest.

Austin used to be called an "oasis in the middle of Texas" in those days. I'm talking the Seventies. That sound bite continues to work. Austin, called Idea City, by a famous downtown advertising agency, is a town built on consciousness. The Whole Foods Market, the most famous home-grown business, developed on the notion of healthy eating, a not-so-commonplace notion that grew to a huge multi-national corporation as the rest of the world caught on to the idea of eating for health. Consciousness at work again.

Ideas swirl like currents. Most human beings shy away from new currents, ideas not yet fully embraced and understood. Austin has become an international city based on open-mindedness.  Austin has the SXSW conference for music, film and digital media as its banner event. That's no accident. The city is a magnet for creativity. I flew into Austin just as the film segment opened for 2013 and sat next to a Parisian filmmaker, looking to buy a film for distribution. Another European, a globe-trotting photographer, sat in the next row and seemed to have professional pursuits lined up for the conference. They may have known Willie Nelson and the Whole Foods Market, but I doubt they had ever heard of Deep Eddy swimming pool. You have to move here and stay awhile to experience the swirling currents.

Younger and Fitter Using 1/6

Looked back at book Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge and learned more from a second reading. Seems like you create some inflammation in your body when you exercise vigorously. The authors explain that the slight pain you inflict on your body, down to the cellular level, creates growth and greater strength and health in the long run. They promote the use of heart monitors to keep good track of your pulse. In general terms, the maximum pulse rate can be derived by using the number 220 and deducting your age. In my case, the age is 63 years-- so my max heart rate would be approximately 157 beats per minute. You then strive in your exercise regime to get to 65% of your heart rate, or higher with more rigorous workouts. You might even move beyond aerobics to anaerobic levels-- with rates close to 100% of your max, maintained for a minute or two-- with sprinting 100 yards or some other relatively extreme behavior, for a senior person that is. The overall result is that you start feeling better and your body maintains itself at a more youthful level from the age of 60-85 years. It's kind of a natural preservative-- like dipping yourself in citric acid to reduce your physical detoriation with an exercise habit of one hour a day for six days a week. I think of the formula as 1/6-- one hour per day/six days a week.

So far this book has been a good influence in my life. I have been combining gym workouts for strength, about 2 per week, with 3-4 days walking the hills adjacent to my neighborhood in Austin. There is a bit of cultism or self-absorption perhaps in the authors' fondness for their system-- but I am falling into line with many of their assertions. I have not bought the heart monitor, a strap that goes around your chest and signals your pulse rates to the wrist monitor you wear like a watch during the workouts. I have noticed pulse rates on the elliptical machine and other apparatus at the gym and sure enough when I hit about 120 bpm (beats per minute)-- a line of sweat forms at my brow and telltale moisture appears at the neckline of my shirt.