I love to walk long distances! Aside from the enjoyment of meeting people and being outdoors, walking has many health benefits, not all so obvious. I invite you to browse the slideshow of my August 30, 2009 walk from Millport to Watkins Glen and back through New York State's gorgeous Catharine Valley Trail.

I have chosen not to invest in a fitness tracker and instead use my iPhone's built-in accelerometer to record steps using the iOS Pacer app. Needless to say, the iPhone is in my pocket wherever I go. To the right is a 3+ years histogram: more than 10 million steps total, averaging 10,000 + steps per day. The dips are the winter months in the northeast. There are risks to sitting too much so the goal is to help balance the reduction in steps while working at a desk.

I like to read but in today's fast-paced world of technology, growing family, and busy workplace, there is seemingly precious little time to devote reading a full-length novel. For the social networking conscious, Goodreads provides a network of avid readers with books to recommend and reviews to share. Barbara Kingsbury's Poisonwood Bible is one of my favorite books, which I recommend and often give as a gift. The novel narrates and engages the reader in the lives of a missionary family that moves to the Congo just before the country's independence in 1960. It is a moving journey for the women in the family who endure hardship and tragedy to carve their own paths after freeing themselves from the wrath of their fanatic husband-father preacher.

Americanah is an amazing book and in my opinion one of the most significant books on racism in America, written from Adichie's point of view as a Nigerian born author.

I did not want Ruth Ozeki's "A Tale for a Time Being" to end, just an incredible novel http://n.pr/1cEj9wB #japan #bullying #suicide #kamikaze