OBESITY is known to double a patient's chances of being hospitalised by coronavirus.

And now Boris Johnson is planning to step up the nation's fight against obesity as part of his plans to beat the deadly disease.

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The Prime Minister, previously a critic of the "nanny state", is said to now support a "more interventionist" approach to obesity.

Boris last month spent three days in intensive care fighting off the virus after his symptoms failed to clear following a ten-day spell in self-isolation.

He is now convinced that his weight is the reason the virus, which for many people is invisible, had such a dramatic affect on him, according to The Times.

The PM has often been photographed jogging or riding a bike through London, but still weighed 17.5 stone, while only 5'9" in height, when he entered hospital.

Obesity and Covid-19

Risk of Stroke If there is a build-up of fatty tissue, which is common in overweight people, it can cause inflammation. This in turn can increase the risk of blood flow difficulties and blockages which, together with the high blood pressure seen with obesity, can lead to strokes.

Sleep Apnoea Being overweight carries a high risk factor for the development of sleep apnoea when breathing repeatedly stops for several seconds at a time during sleep. With additional soft tissue around the face and neck, airways can become blocked and breathing restricted. This then leads to a reduction in oxygen in the blood, which can cause issues with ineffective breathing during Covid-19 infection.

Risk of Heart Attack Being obese has long been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular issues such as heart and circulatory diseases. While less oxygen in the blood can cause issues, the British Heart Foundation states that fatty material building up in your arteries can also cause problems and even lead to heart attacks.

Risk of Liver Disease Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease typically affects people who are overweight or obese, as its caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. People with more fat in their liver are also at increased risk of other health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease.

Immune System in Overdrive Obesity is a pro-inflammatory condition, meaning the immune system is already in overdrive. Adding coronavirus on top of that could tip it over the edge, according to Mr Ahmed, and cause serious inflammation.

Reduced Lung Capacity The more overweight you are, the more pressure there is on your diaphragm as its pushed up towards your rib cage essentially compressing the lungs and reducing their capacity. This ultimately makes it harder to get oxygen into the blood, which can lead to heart issues too. As the coronavirus primarily attacks lung tissue, the less lung capacity you have, the greater the effect of the virus.

Type 2 Diabetes Obesity has one of the biggest risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have claimed abdominal fat can cause fat cells to release pro-inflammatory chemicals, which in turn can lead to insulin resistance where cells fail to respond normally to the hormone insulin.

Risk of Kidney Failure Diabetes and high blood pressure are two of the main causes of kidney disease and both of them are linked to obesity. Meanwhile, being overweight also puts extra pressure on the kidneys as they often have to work harder to filter waste.

More than 60 per cent of patients in intensive care with the viruswere overweight or classed as morbidly obese, arecent NHS survey found.

And data from the Health Survey for England (HSE) conducted in 2018 indicated that 31 per cent of adults in the UKwere recognised as clinicallyobesewith a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30.

But as as Boris vows to crack down on obesity levels, we ask a top personal trainer how to lose weight safely...

Harry Thomas, owner of No1 Fitness and celebrity PT, says if you are trying to lose weight it is important to become more conscious of exactly what you're consuming.

He says: "Pay attention to your intake - knowing what you are eating for a few days, can be the game changer for achieving results.

"Many people have never realised how many calories they are overeating from snacking.

"Over the course of the week, these do add up, and could be the main factor for stalling progress."

NHS advice on calorie intake

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight.

For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day.

These values can vary depending on age, size and levels of physical activity, among other factors.

Our bodies need energy to keep us alive and our organs functioning normally.

When we eat and drink, we put energy into our bodies. Our bodies use up that energy through everyday movement, which includes everything from breathing to running.

To maintain a stable weight, the energy we put into our bodies must be the same as the energy we use through normal bodily functions and physical activity.

An important part of a healthy diet is balancing the energy you put into your bodies with the energy you use.

For example, the more physical activity we do, the more energy we use.

If you consume too much energy on one day, do not worry. Just try to take in less energy on the following days.

Source:NHS

One of the best ways to lose weight and burn more calories is simply by exercising more.

And Harry says that all you need is ten minutes of exercise a day to start making a difference.

"With the recent announcements last Sunday by Boris, we are now able to get outside much more to exercise," Harry says.

"Get out your diary and block out some time for exercise, stretching and yoga.

"Remember if you are tight for time, be strict with the time you do block out, set the intention that this is a no disturbance time.

"Ten minutes is all you have? Great, get a HIIT circuit in."

To get results and to stay motivated you must see changes.

Harry says: "I recommend taking photos of your progress - even if you dont like the way you look.

"Get your belly out and legs out if you want them areas to change and after a few weeks comparing you will be surprised what you can see.

"Use scales, people say these are bad and we should focus on other things, but if your goal is weight loss, this is the BEST way to see progress.

"Clothes are a great way to see changes - that dress that's sitting in your wardrobe, or your old jeans you want to get back into, the clothes dont lie and will quickly show change."

Many people are said to be struggling with getting a good night's sleep during lockdown.

However, getting too little sleep alters our metabolism so our bodies cannot process food as effectively - ultimately hindering weight loss goals.

Getting just one more hour of sleep a night can aid weight loss - as the stress hormone cortisol, which is said to increase appetite, is higher when you do not get a good sleep.

Being well-rested also means you'll have more energy and be able to put maximum effort into your workout.

Harry says: "Although sleep is not directly responsible for weight loss, it will help aid everything else that does help."

It is important to create some accountability so you stick to your weight loss plan.

"Announce what you are doing to loved ones," Harry recommends.

"Book in times that you can train with a friend virtually, or work with a trainer so that you have someone else pushing you.

"Its easier when other people are involved in the process, and their motivation will be key for getting you through the tougher days."

When it comes to losing weight, if you're consistent all the hard work and sacrifices made will be worth it.

However, it's important not to beat yourself off if you go off your weight loss plan.

Harry says: "Stay good to yourself throughout - if you have a few days off, dont stress, get back on track.

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"Keep reinforcing the positives you have achieved - training more consistently, completing more in the session, getting stronger, getting fitter etc.

"Weight goes far beyond what happens in a month, and to get the weight loss that you want, it's going to take much longer than 30 days.

"But dont worry, you will see results all the way through, you just need to look out for them that's all."

Harry is hosting virtual fitness classes during lockdown - take part in a class at 9am on Sunday here.

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As Boris Johnson vows to lose weight the 6 ways to do it safely - The Sun

Youd have to be living under a rock these past few weeks to have missed the media hype surrounding globally renowned singer Adele. Twitter, Facebook, and countless news sites have been plastered with the same image of the slimmer 32 year old each accompanied with hundreds of comments lauding her incredible transformation and supposed 7 stone weight loss.

Shes an inspiration. Shes so beautiful now.

Of course, I have no problem with Adele losing weight. I recently read an article which condemned Adele for supposedly letting down plus-size women everywhere a somewhat regressive statement which is more telling of the writers own insecurities. For me, the underlying issue is that the over-glorification of Adeles almost unrecognisable and slimmer physique is that is debases her previously larger but completely healthy body.

Praise is focused principally on how much more attractive the multi-Grammy Award winning singer has become. She is an inspiration for her physical transformation, almost nullifying her many other achievements, and, crucially, perpetuating the toxic and misguided belief that weight loss is synonymous with happiness and self-improvement.

The hype surrounding Adeles dramatic weight loss parallels another destructive modern trend and one which has always made me uncomfortable on Instagram the toxic culture of the before and after transformation post. This has arguably become even more prominent in the recent months since this lockdown and the ensuing productivity contest that is perpetuated on social media.

In such posts, the bodies depicted pre-transformation portray the supposedly undesirable body types. For women this tends to be an undefined waist, the love handles, the touching thighs, the muffin top, whilst for men its any physique which doesnt resemble a Marvel movie superhero.

Obviously, there is nothing objectively flawed about these bodies. They are perfectly healthy and normal, but the negative implication is there when it is displayed as a beforephoto.

Why would anyone want the before body? Who would ever want to look like that? This new, skinnier body is so much better.

Perhaps youve never had body hang-ups before. Perhaps your lack of visible abs has never really crossed your mind. But the criticism implied by these comparisons can lead people to question the desirability of your body type.

Is there something wrong with the body in the first image? Should I, like these people, be doing something to change it? Would I be more desirable if I did?

In addition to their denunciation of perfectly normal body types, the vast majority of the post-transformation images are grossly misleading. In many cases, our exposure to before and after comparison comes from social media influencers who share posts to sell more of their fitness and diet plans.

Thus, body transformation images become just another marketing tool, a means of persuading the consumers mostly impressionable young men and women on Instagram into spending money and buying into this ideal.

More than that, theyre also used by young people to market themselves to carefully construct an idealistic profile in the ongoing, seemingly endless battle for social media clout.

No one ever said marketing has to be transparent. Angles. Lighting. Pose. Posture. Body makeup. Time of day. Clothing. Photoshop. All powerful deceivers, all extensively used to manipulate the after image to give the illusion of a quicker, more dramatic, more incredible transformation. Can anyone realistically (and safely) achieve such dramatic weight loss in a matter of weeks? Almost definitely not. Seeing is not necessarily believing.

Of course, some of these young people are simply proud of the progress they have made, eager to share with others the rewards of their determination and hard work. While I am happy for them, I would urge them to reconsider so publicly portraying their pre-transformation body as undesirable it is somewhat dismissive to their previous selves and damaging to others.

It may be extremely clich, but it really does ring true: try to be sensitive and mindful with how you post and interact online. Denouncing and comparing body types can provoke very real and harmful issues.

View original post here:
Cruel comparisons: The toxic culture of the 'Before and After' photos - The Mancunion

Hi Hayley,

Im a 49-year-old woman, average height, average bone size, but have been overweight by about 30 pounds for 15 years. I LOVE food. I know my portions are probably too big, and my willpower is not fantastic. If there is cheesecake, I will have a piece. When Im in a restaurant, I want the fries. I do eat a lot of vegetables, and we eat quinoa a lot. I dont even care for meat that much. If I eat any meat, it is lean. However, I do have teenagers and a super carnivore husband, so no vegetarianism is in my future. I have epilepsy, so I cant drink. Even before I knew that, I didnt drink much. I drink no pop.

I have joined online Weight Watchers twice and lost 10 pounds, then plateaued and given up because I was already eating the minimum points and couldnt cut down further (to below their minimum) or I would have been even more miserable. All I ate was chicken breasts...I dont like steak or salmon that much.

For exercise: I have joined bootcamps in the past,I walk the short walk to work. I have a large dog and with the pandemic, I can walk her for an hour a day, through wooded trails and up hills, etc. It will get harder in the summer as she is very thick coated, so I must get up quite early to walk her safely.

I have had some sort of disc problemin my back and my epilepsy meds make me more tired. I was doing hot yoga once a week before the pandemic. I used to love floor hockey, but it isnt available in my small community. I am not much of a swimmer, I can dog paddle, but I dont love it.

I have trouble sticking with things like diets and exercise regimens that arent integrated into my life (like dog walking). I do have a treadmill and a TRX. Also, a big yard with trees that need pruning, etc. I do have a Fitbit and find it somewhat motivating. My fave hobbies are knitting and reading, with tv a close second, getting sweaty has not ever been my thing (unless I was playing floor hockey, or mixed softball, which I dont think will be in the cards for me anymore).

I know to be healthier I should shed some weight. I would love to go back to 130, but I think 150 is a more reachable goal. Could you tell me what you think of Noom? It seems like it might be a more livable version of WW, but I really hesitate to pay for something that may be just a gimmick.

Thank you,

Interior BC Mom

Hi Interior Mom,

Thank you for your question and I wanted to step away from the weekly workouts this week to give this some attention as I think you are not the only one struggling with this.

For some of us food is like a drug and on some scale, I feel like many of us struggle to find a balance between eating healthy and allowing ourselves to whatever we like. During this pandemic, it is extra hard to be balanced as we are stuck inside, food is very easily accessible, and it really is the only thing we can look forward to these days (or at least that is the case for me). I am going to answer your Noom question in a moment, but I want to share something personal that I struggle with as it may help with what youre dealing with.

As much as I have struggled with my relationship with food throughout my entire life I have also struggled with my relationship with alcohol, mainly wine. I could hardly wait to get home after work and pour myself a glass of wine. Sometimes it would just be one, but usually two glasses during the week and many on the weekends. I could easily polish off a bottle of wine on a Friday night, and then again on a Saturday without thinking about it. It was the weekend! To me this meant it was time to relax and socialize and that meant drinking.

I didnt like that about myself though, the fact that I couldnt go to a family dinner without having a drink or two, maybe three. I didnt like how uncomfortable I felt on the nights I tried not to have drink. I felt like I was taking away one of my rights, but I didnt want to be this way. I just didnt know how to live without having wine at least four days out of the week.

Since beginning on my fertility journey, I have had no choice but to stop. And to be honest, I dont miss it.Not one bit. Having something I am truly working towards, creating a family, has given me the reason to put my health first. No longer am I uncomfortable sticking to mocktails and soda water on Friday and Saturday nights. That reward of a beer after a mountain bike ride has turned into a lovely decaf coffee. I have stopped associating joy and happiness with the ability to have a drink. I feel like a better human and I am so happy. Will I give up alcohol forever? Probably not. But I am so grateful that I no longer feel that the only way I can truly relax and enjoy myself is with a cocktail in hand.

So, lets bring this back to you now and what you say is overconsuming. I will be honest with you right out of the gate, you will not succeed unless you want to succeed. No food tracking app or program will help you. All they are going to do is remind you that you are failing every time you order fries at a restaurant or eat cheesecake. (There is nothing wrong with ordering fries or having cheesecake but when you are trying to lose weight, foods like that need to be enjoyed in small and limited quantities.)

What you should to do is disassociate food with an emotion like guilt. But if you do want to be healthier, you should accept that we dont get to have what we want all the time. Trust me, I wish I could live off my homemade oatmeal chocolate cookies, but I know I cant.

You dont have to diet. You dont have to count calories. You dont have to meal prep and eat ground turkey and boiled vegetables all week. But you should make the right decisions one at a time. If you do it all at once it is way too overwhelming and you wont succeed. So, you need a little patience when approaching weight loss this way. Understand that it will not happen overnight, and this is something that you have to continue focusing on every single day.

Your workout routine sounds perfect. Hiking with your dog is great and honestly that is all you need to do. If you are walking an hour a day at a brisk pace you are getting way more than the 150 minutes of weekly exercise recommended by Health Canada. But how different would your life be if after you get home you head to your TRX and you do 3 rounds of 10 pull ups, 10 pushups, 10 squats and 10 lunges? Probably not that much, right? And while you are on your morning walk spend some of it thinking of how you are going to tackle your day. We dont really have to worry about making the right choices at a restaurant right now, but where else may you encounter a roadblock and how will you overcome it, without allowing yourself to feel deprived. Create your plan and your strategy and stick to it. Make this about youand creating the life you want to live.

Dont waste your money on that app if you havent succeeded with other programs, so why would this one be any different? I see this so many times, people thinking if they just pay something to tell them what to do, they will shed the pounds. It doesnt work like that. It doesnt matter if you have an app telling you what to do, a dietician telling you what to do, a personal trainer telling you what to do, or me telling you what to do, YOU still have to do the work. Nobody will do it for you. You know, and I know, that you want to make changes because if you didnt you would not have taken the time to write me. So, start doing the work. Fill your morning up with fruit, berries, oats and lots of water and fill your evening up with all the yummy vegetables you can stand. And if you want a piece of cheesecake, have it, dont beat yourself up over it but also dont swing too far on the other side and associate it with all your happiness. Your health and well-being are your happiness.

Continued here:
For Your Fitness: When you want to be healthier - LaineyGossip

Relaxed woman with eyes closed

Perfection is killing me.

OK. Sure. Im being dramatic. Im not perfect. Not even close. My family knows it. My friends know it. My colleagues at work know it.Doesnt mean I dont jam myself into tight corners with impossible to achieve perfection situations.

Yep. Im an all-in kinda girl. Have been forever.

If Im exercising, you can be sure Im going too hard, too fast. If Im cutting out Diet Coke, Im going cold turkey and suffering through a major caffeine withdrawal. If Im trying to lose weight, Im trying to do it overnight, which means Ive probably cut my calorie intake way down.

The same is true when I get stuck in reverse mode.If Im eating quarter pounders with cheese,Im probably eating one a day. If I fall off the Diet Coke wagon, Im cracking open a can at breakfast. If Im working on a novel, Im spending a ton of extra hours, butt in a chair, trying to get words on paper meaning exercise, yeah, not gonna happen.

Related: Download The Mighty app to connect in real time with people who can relate to what you're going through.

The problem is, good habits or bad, none of these over the top patterns of behavior are sustainable. Basically, Im setting myself up for failure. I know it. Theres no shock and awe here. No big revelation.So, why do it? Why am I still trying to reach a state of personal perfection when it comes to diet, fitness, relationships, writing, working, home decorating, etc.?

Well, if only you could hear what goes on in my head, youd understand.

Be perfect. You can do it. If only you tried harder. If only you did better. If only you

Ad nauseam, and to infinity and beyond.Why? Why does my brain hate me?And why does perfection matter anyway?

Because maybe just maybe if I reach that perfect state, the place where Im finally all the things I want to be, and doing all the things I want to do, then maybe I wont be in pain anymore.

Related: I Was a 'Near-Perfect' Housewife. Then I Was Diagnosed With Fibromyalgia

Story continues

Become a (well-liked) published author. Be an awesome wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, employee. Do yoga three times a week. Walk 60 minutes daily. Take a 2-hour hike every Saturday. Eat only (non-nightshade) vegetables and protein. Fit into my skinny jeans. Have perfect hair and glowing skin. Be the life of the party and a fountain of wisdom. Drink eight to 10 glasses of water daily. Keep a spotless kitchen. Ride my horse through the Montana wilderness to rescue lost calves; my Stetson pulled low, my cowboy boots perfectly (theres that p-word again) distressed. (I dont even know how to ride a horsebut whatever.)

The point is, my brain is telling me on repeat that unless Im all of the above, and then some, the pain I suffer from is my own damn fault.How frustrating is that?Because I ate bread its my fault my lower back hurts. Because I didnt force myself to run an eight-minute mile after working all day its my fault my hip joints are painfully locking and popping. Because there are crumbs on my kitchen floor its my fault my brain fog is so bad I showed up for a 6 p.m. yoga class at 7:30 (true story).

Related: How We Adapted Our Wedding for My Disabilities

Just last night, I was talking about this blog with my doctor sister, who is an actual chronic pain expert with all the fancy letters after her name to prove it. She shared with me an explanation for some of my brains excessively critical ramblings.Its called the just-world hypothesis.

Parsed down to non-scientific lingo, the just-world hypothesis is a general belief that life is fair, and people get what they deserve.Good begets good. And if youre bad well, youre fucked.

Therefore, if life is fair, and I am good (or in my case substitute good for perfect), then I deserve a pain-free existence. Right? And since Im not pain-free, and havent been for years, it must mean Im imperfect or a bad person.

A very, very bad person, going by my pain levels.

Seriously, life can be mentally hard when you blame yourself for things you have no control over. I have fibromyalgia. The having of the disease is not my fault. Also true for ankylosing spondylitis. These conditions are a combination of the genetics I inherited from my parents.

The widespread chronic pain produced by these diseases? Not something I earned through bad behavior or my failure to reach my perfect state.Fundamentally, I already knew this, but hellooooo, irrational bitch brain talkin.

So heres the deal. As I bumble along my wellness journey, Im working towards changing my inner monologue. The goal? Finding my personal balance. That sweet spot between good and bad. Perfect and perfectly imperfect.It exists. I just gotta find it for myself. And you gotta find it for yourself. Cause were not the same. My perfectly imperfect wont be, and shouldnt be, your perfectly imperfect.

It doesnt mean we cant share notes and experiences along the way. Doesnt mean we cant laugh and cry and curse together over spilled wine and dropped eggs. Doesnt mean we shouldnt hold each other up when our pain levels try to drag us down.

Im a work in progress. Always have been. And I hope to God always will be. Im still learning how to live with my chronic pain. Im still changing my views on whats the best way to achieve my personal goals. Im still striving to find my balance.

It takes time. A lifetime, really. But Im hopeful that with a little extra self-awareness and acceptance of things I have no control over, keeping an even keel wont be so damn hard.Although, if I pop the top on a bottle of beer, you can safely bet money, Im having more than a single.

If you have any tips and tricks for finding your balance, drop them in the comments. Id love to know more about your challenges and successes.

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The Pain of Perfection When You Live With a Chronic Illness - Yahoo News

Time for yet another (groan) pandemic walk? Here's how to switch things up.

From left, Lisa Hibbs and her step-children Penelope Stone, 9, and Sebastian Stone, 7, walk together a long the train tracks in Frontier Park in St. Charles on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Photo by Rachel Ellis, rellis@post-dispatch.com

Robin Burnside of Affton takes a walk at Laumeier Sculpture Parkon April 3.

Jane Smith, of Olivette, takes advantage of a large, empty Creve Coeur parking lot on April 6 and walks with her daughter Hannah Smith.

A resident walks the perimeter of the Suson Park lake on April 28.

Fatima Isa, 22, and Nasumba Albert, 8, walk past James Fote as he fishes in the small pond in Fox Hill Park in St. Charles on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Fox Hill park is one one location doing storybook walks, where people can read a book throughout their walk. Photo by Rachel Ellis, rellis@post-dispatch.com

Joce Figueroa of Clayton walks on the brick pavement of downtown St. Charles on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Photo by Rachel Ellis, rellis@post-dispatch.com

Signs along the trail at Veterans Tribute Park in St. Charles hold pages of a storybook families can read as they walk.

Walking feels a bit different during a pandemic, and its likely youve been doing more of it, whether or not youre forcing yourself or your family to get moving.

Youre walking to exercise, socialize, escape, pass the time, indulge the dog (who has absolutely zero problem with any of this, the last we checked), or all of the above.

A lot of folks are discovering a different way of interacting with the community when they are walking, said Emma Klues, vice president of communications and outreach for Great Rivers Greenway, which has seen a significant surge of people on its 125 greenways throughout the area. When theyre walking, theyre seeing houses differently, or they can stop and check something out. You cant do that with a car as much.

Walking improves cardiovascular health, helps you maintain and lose weight, and allows you to get valuable Vitamin D.

During a pandemic, walks simply help.

These walking experiences can really reduce your stress, and thats really whats important right now, said Joyce Millner, a certified personal trainer and fitness consultant who is co-executive director of the Fit and Food Connection, which provides fitness and food resources to communities in need.

Dont just go through the motions. Look around, take in a new tree, a new flower, a smiling face. There are so many benefits to absorbing goodness. It can just be a wonderful experience.

So lace up some supportive shoes, fellow bipeds. Well guide you through a few steps to getting the most out your walk.

Be a polite walker:Viruses cant walk, but they can spread through the air. So its important to maintain a social distance of six feet from other walkers. If you come to an intersection or a crosspoint, be clear in your verbal or body language about where you are going to go next, Klues said.

Stay to the far right of a path except when you are safely passing, advises Forest Park Forever, which put together a guide for visitors, with tips that apply to other outdoor spaces (forestparkforever.org/coronavirus). However, when walking on a road, walk on the left side, so oncoming traffic can see you.

The Victorian Footbridge was built in 1885 to provide a pedestrian route into Forest Park from the nearby streetcar stop. Today, the Victorian Bridge has been restored and is nestled within the park's northeast corner. Jim Backus of Richmond Heights rides his bike across it here. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com

If youre crossing a bridge, make sure there is nobody else oncoming before crossing. If you are passing someone, let them know by calling on your left so the other person can give you space, and get out of the way if possible.

Also, dont use trails or go out if you are sick or showing symptoms, and if you do go out, dont touch things like park benches, handrails and bike racks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a face mask in areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain, so if youre going to a crowded path, keep one with you.

Bring a bottle of water as many public park water fountains may not be available.

Also, listen to your mother and use the bathroom before you leave the house. Many parks have closed public restrooms during the pandemic.

Keep a walk interesting:Any scout leader keeps a few tricks in his or her rucksack to keep scouts interested during walks and hikes.

Dave Chambliss with the St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America suggests using walks for teaching opportunities: how to identify trees and trail markers, how to build an emergency shelter, as well as learning about first aid or navigational skills.

Hes had someone in his group pretend to fall and sprain an ankle. The first person in line behind that person has to tend to the fallen. After a few hikes like this, scouts figure out they have to be prepared for any emergency. They didnt know when it would happen next, he said. Youd hear one say, I wonder if we are going to do bee stings?

Go on an ABC walk where you and your companions identify things beginning with each letter of the alphabet. For more challenging letters, like X, look for two sticks or tree branches that make the shape. For a monogram walk, each person has to find something that begins with their initials.

Rainbow walk: Go through the colors of the rainbow and identify as many things as you can with that color.

Ray and Audrey Behrendes walk together on the trail at Fox Hill Park in St. Charles on Wednesday. The trail in Fox Hill is one of the St. Charles Library Foundation's Storybook Walks. Pages are posted at several stations along the trail, allowing families and friends to enjoy a story as they walk.

Story walk:Each person on the walk starts a story, then the next person adds a sentence, then the next person. Pick a park that offers a Storybook Walk, where pages of a childrens book are posted alongside a trail. The St. Charles Library Foundation lists some here: stchlibraryfoundation.org/StorybookWalk

Night walk: Go on a walk at night, and leave the flashlights at home. See if the light of the moon or the light of the streetlights is enough to get you by, and listen to the sounds of the night.

Penny walk: When you reach a corner, flip a coin. Heads go right, tails go left. Once you get to a spot, give your kids a penny and see how many things they can find that will fit onto it.

Bring drawing and coloring materials and when you get to your destination, sketch what you see.

Creek walk: Find a creek and walk up it or alongside it.

Theme and treat days: change up your walk with different drinks, genres of music, treats and meals. You can enjoy disco music on one day, cucumber-infused water another day, or look forward to a coffee or ice cream at a destination, says Millner.

Walk with an app

Besides listening to a new podcast, audiobook or music, you can download an app to help put a spring in your step. Youve heard of Pokemon Go, but you can also play augmented reality games like Harry Potter: Wizards United, Ingress or Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs.

Pokemon Go

Use the app Walk the Distance to virtually walk the Appalachian Trail, New York City, the National Mall and more, learning about landmarks and passing others along the way.

Slay zombies and ghosts with Zombies, Run, The Walking Dead: Our World and Ghostbusters World.

Use an app like Strava or MapMyWalk to draw a virtual picture as you walk, and use the hashtag #DrawWithYourFeet or #GPSART to share your creation on social media.

To hunt for or leave treasure, download Geocaching.

Support a local cause by walking a virtual race youll probably still come away with a T-shirt and medal. The Gateway Resilience Run & Ride, through June 30, is a virtual event that will help small businesses and charities in the St. Louis region get through the coronavirus crisis. For more information, visit Gatewayresiliencerun.com.

Download an app like Charity Miles to track your movement to make money for a favorite charity. The money comes from corporate sponsors or you can get pledges and donations from friends and family.

Walk somewhere interesting

Find a main street or historic town, peek in the windows or shop and eat if you can: try St. Charles; Kimmswick; Old Town Florissant; Kirkwood; Lebanon; Columbia, Illinois; and Belleville.

Visit a cemetery or the grave of a loved one: Bellefontaine offers a GPS-enabled map and suggested walking tours. Calvary Cemetery next door and Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery are also beautiful and historical. (cemeteries.archstl.org/Locations/Calvary#485742-maps)

St. Louis Walk of Fame Next to Blueberry Hill on Delmar 5/21/00 Civil War General William T. Sherman was inducted into the Walk of Fame on Sunday afternoon. His star is located at 6687 Delmar. Photo by Aaron Burg

Take a stroll along the St. Louis Walk of Fame, which honors more than 150 prominent St. Louisans along six blocks of the Delmar Loop. The St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation Walk of Fame in downtown St. Louis, in the 2000 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, honors prominent African Americans.

Be a good social distancing citizen and visit lesser-known parks and parts of them, or visit during weekdays or off hours to avoid crowds. Inside Forest Park, places like Successional Forest, Kennedy Forest, the circle around Jefferson Lake, Murphy Lake, West Pine Woodland, Round Lake Vista, Deer Lake Natural Area are usually quiet.

If you live in the city, try walking the alleys to discover backyard chickens, flower and vegetable gardens, carriage house architecture or basement treasures left beside trash bins.

Maureen O'Day, of St. Louis, takes photo while standing in the east bound lane of the Eads Bridge during a event celebrating the completion of a repair project to the bridge, Friday, October 7, 2016. Pedestrians were allowed to walk on the bridge while it was closed to vehicular traffic. Photo by Roberto Rodriguez

Find a bridge that has pedestrian access and enjoy the views: the Eads Bridge, Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, the old Chain of Rocks Bridge, and the Page Avenue Bridge all allow pedestrians. The Sandy Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site in Jefferson County spans a creek that welcomes waders.

Find a spot to use your walk for contemplation or prayer. The Centenary Methodist Church in downtown St. Louis and the St. Peters UCC Church and cemetery in Washington, Missouri, have labyrinths. The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville has outdoor stations of the cross.

Challenge yourself

Humorist David Sedaris grew obsessed with walking once he got a Fitbit, reaching a point where he scoffed at himself for doing a mere 15,000 steps a day. Not bad if youre on a business trip or youre just getting used to a new prosthetic leg, he wrote. Fitness experts and pedometer makers recommend 10,000 steps a day, or roughly 5 miles.

There are any number of apps and gadgets to measure distance and prod you to challenge yourself or a friend.

Fitbits, like this Fitbit Flex, track steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes, and the device monitors your sleep and wakes you with a silent vibrating alarm.

The St. Louis County parks 30 trails-30 minutes program encourages you to print a map, punch out a piece of it at the start of designated trails, and turn in the completed map for a prize. (stlouisco.com/Parks-and-Recreation/Trails/30-30-Hikes-Program)

Great Rivers Greenway advertises 10 more walks you can do in 30 minutes. (greatriversgreenway.org/30-walks-30-minutes-plus-10/)

The Missouri Civil War Passport Program points you to about 40 significant sites across the state. (mo-passport.org)

The Gateway Arch Park Foundation recently launched a challenge for fans to climb the steps of the Gateway Arch from home. There are 1,076 steps inside of each leg, and the foundation wants you to climb up and down the Arch as fast as you can to complete a total of 2,152 steps, just over one mile. Post your efforts on social media, tag @GatewayArchPark and use #GatewayArchStepChallenge.

No matter where or how long you walk, see if you can up your intensity to get the most health benefits, said Millner of the Fit and Food Connection.

I recommend quality over quantity, she said.

Even if youre just beginning, set small goals to get your heart rate up so that youre not exactly comfortable, and it might be difficult to carry on part of a conversation, she said. You can add lunges, jumping jacks, go at a faster pace, walk up and down a hill or steps.

Thats how you make it fun she said. It wont really feel terrible, but the results will be huge. I teach that small changes yield big results.

Walk with a friend, or make new ones

If you can maintain a social distance, you can still walk with a friend, chat with a neighbor, or take a moment to smile at rather than ignore the people in your path. Were just hearing from a lot of people they obviously want to maintain their physical health, but also their emotional well-being, Klues said.

Robert and Beverly Brozanski pass Elizabeth Dilg and Frank Youkhana enjoying an evening cocktail as the Brozankis take Lady Belle for her nightly walk on Thursday, April 30, 2020, along Delmar Blvd in University City. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Even if people arent talking to others directly, just to see people outside helps maintain a sense of community, she said.

Lois La Fleur is the president of the Gateway Milers, a walking club that is a chapter of the American Volksport Association. Volksport is German for sport of the people. While the clubs organized walks have been on hold since the pandemic, they maintain lists of recommended walks people can take anytime. Detailed maps for these walks cost $3 and are found in binders at designated starting points like libraries and YMCAs, though many binders arent accessible now because the locations are closed.

A man takes a walk on the gravel pavement in Frontier Park in St. Charles on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, La Fleur stays in touch with the friends shes made through the club through Zoom meetings and socially distant walks with one or two friends.

The AVA motto is fun, fitness and friendship. And were kinda like, walk, talk and lets go eat somewhere. And when I started they were all strangers to me, she said.

The club welcomes new members and tries a new walk in a different spot every Saturday. She and other members have built vacations around walks in other cities, saying its a great way to see places locals recommend.

For more information, visit ava.org.

For some of the best views in St. Louis, check out some of these places

Everyone knows the best place to get a look at St. Louis is through one of 32 windows at the top of the Gateway Arch. Luckily, the trams that carry passengers to the observation deck 630 feet in the air reopened Wednesday after having been closed since November for upgrades.

But the Archs view isnt the only one in town. There are others to appreciate, with many providing a look at our favorite metal monument.

We came up with 50 St. Louis-area locations to admire the scenic surroundings. Most are open to the public, some offer a look at downtown and others show off nothin but nature.

Do you have your own great photos of these views? Or maybe you have more suggestions for our list? Tell us about them on social media by using the hashtag #stlviews.

The supermoon rises over the Arch in St. Louis as seen from the Compton Hill Water Tower on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016. A supermoon happens when a full moon makes its closest pass to Earth appearing up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter in the sky. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

1700 South Grand Boulevard Several fabulous views are to be had here: Walk the stairs up to the perimeter of the reservoir, which is great for running. One side runs along Interstate 44. Or wait until the water tower is open, usually on the first Saturday of the month or during a full moon, and climb up 198 steps for spectacular views in all directions.

The Malcolm W. Martin statue overlooks a foggy St. Louis skyline, as seen from Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. Martin was a lawyer and civic booster in St. Louis who championed expanding the Arch grounds to the East Side. He died in 2004 at age 91. Photo by Cristina M. Fletes, cfletes@post-dispatch.com

185 West Trendley Avenue, East St. Louis This tiered Mississippi River overlook opened to the public in 2009 and offers a striking view of the St. Louis riverfront. Watch for the Gateway Geyser, the tallest water fountain in the country, which gushes up to 630 feet at noon, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. from April through October.

Fog lifts from a row of trees along the east banks of the Mississippi River at sunrise on the Illinois side of the river as seen from the bluff in Bellerive Park in St. Louis on Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

5570 South Broadway Enjoy sweeping views of the Mississippi River from benches or the overlook at the pavilion.

A Mississippi River overlook at Jefferson Barracks County Park (photo courtesy of St. Louis County Parks)

345 North Road Several overlooks at this former military barracks will give you views of the Mississippi River and visiting deer. Check out the view from the patio of the free Powder Magazine museum.

Saturday, June 2, 2007 - Mark Abels, of St. Louis, crosses the Chain of Rocks Bridge which is part of the new Route 66 bike trail, that spans from The Chain of Rocks Bridge to Chicago. Abels and his wife, Merri, started riding at 10:00 a.m. at The Chain of Rocks Bridge, stopped in Edwardsville, Ill., and then biked back to the bridge. The whole trip was about 30 miles. "It was a good ride," said Merri Abels in Edwardsville, "ask me that again on the way back." The entire route spans 438 miles. On Saturday there were about 500 riders biking the route. Karen Stockman | Post-Dispatch

Parallelling Interstate 270 along West Chain of Rocks Road between Riverview Drive in St. Louis and Illinois 3 in Madison County This historic bridge is open to bikes and pedestrians. Watch for the 30-degree bend in the middle of the bridge and for the castle-like pump station in the middle of the Mississippi River.

Joe Hansen, 78, of University City takes in the view near the top of the Weldon Spring Disposal Cell during a visit with his church group Monday in St. Charles County. "It almost brings a tear to my eye," Hansen says, who was a metal engineer at the Weldon Springs Site from 1958 to 1966. "We had a pretty good time here." The disposal cell, part of the Weldon Spring Site Interpretive Center, covers about 45 acres and provides isolation of chemically and radioactively contaminated waste material. 2005 PHOTO BY HUY RICHARD MACH/PD

7295 Highway 94 South, Weldon Spring Climb to the top of the 75-foot-high Weldon Spring Disposal Cell (yes, the government built this site atop old TNT, DNT and uranium ore processing facilities) and you can see panoramic views of St. Charles County and the Hamburg Prairie.

A press-box view of the Busch Stadium outfield on Monday. (Photo by Derrick Goold)

700 Clark Avenue If St. Louis has the best fans in baseball, we might have the best views, too. The view of downtown when you glance up from a Cardinals game cant be beat. Go to cardinals.com to see the view from your seat.

The Gateway Arch serves as a distant backdrop during the Stop the Violence 4 Peace Festival on Saturday, July 18, 2015 in the Old North neighborhood of St. Louis. The festival, in its first year, featured live music, crafts for kids, and booth from local vendors. Photo by Huy Mach, hmach@post-dispatch.com

14th Street between St. Louis Avenue and Warren Street If youre in this neighborhood just northwest of downtown, perhaps grabbing a chocolate-banana shake at Crown Candy Kitchen, you might have a moment where you look up and say, Oh, hey. Just to the south youll see a familiar friend, the Arch, rising above the Dome at Americas Center.

View of Busch Stadium old and new on Dec. 5, 2005, from the Eagleton Federal Courthouse building in St. Louis, Mo. POST-DISPATCH PHOTO BY CHRIS LEE

111 South 10th Street Tours are available of this 29-story building, but provided you go through security, the views of the city are vastly different whether you look out a west-facing window on the 10th floor or an east-facing window on the top floor.

A view of the newly completed Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard from the Eads Bridge on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, at the St. Louis riverfront. Work on the Arch grounds continues. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com

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Time for yet another (groan) pandemic walk? Here's how to switch things up. - STLtoday.com

For $.28 a pound, Shorty Hofer doesnt want to sell his hogs, but in a farrow-to-finish operation where new litters of piglets are born every week, you run out of room in your barn.

We farrow every week, said Hofer, a hog farmer and business manager of the Hutterite Midway Colony near Conrad. We keep farrowing, so weve got to keep them moving. Theyve got to go somewhere every week.

So Hofer keeps taking the losses.

Its better than killing them, he said.

With many meat processing plants still offline because of COVID-19 outbreaks at facilities, farmers across the country have had to euthanize millions of animals. In Montana, most hogs go to West Coast facilities that have seen less disruption, so hog farmers have not yet taken the step of euthanizing animals. Still, the state Department of Livestock is gearing up its carcass disposal facility in anticipation of the possibility.

Those that are sold are bringing prices near zero. The average cost to raise a hog from farrow to finish is about $125 per head, according to Iowa State University.

Its been a world of hurt, Hofer said.

Hofer decided to do something different with his most recent load of finished hogs. Rather than sell all of them at a loss, Hofer made a deal with Independent Meat Company, his regular processor in Twin Falls, Idaho. If Independent Meat would slaughter 10 hogs without charge, the processor could keep the prime cuts for resale, and Hofer would take the equivalent weight in hot dogs and ground pork. Hofer then would donate the 800 pounds of pork to local food banks.

Seven other Montana Hutterite colonies have made similar deals.

We cant take care of the whole state, but we figured well help locally and start locally.

With livestock prices falling and food banks facing increased need, farmers and ranchers across Montana have increasingly been figuring out ways to share their products locally.

I am so proud of what our farmers are doing, said Anne Miller, executive director of the Montana Pork Producers Council. Were getting more animals directly into the food supply.

Montana is a net exporter of pork. At Hutterite colonies, which produce more than 95% of the hogs in Montana, as well as significant amounts of eggs and dairy and other crops including potatoes, the donations are wide-ranging. Twenty-nine Montana Hutterite colonies have each donated about 12,000 gallons of milk to the Montana Food Bank Network. Some Hutterite donations also include fresh-baked bread, Miller said.

We cant take care of the whole state, but we figured well help locally and start locally, Hofer said.

Joel Schumacher, an extension economics associate specialist at Montana State University, said any food kept in-state is a net positive for Montana consumers. Montana-raised hogs are typically sold to out-of-state markets.

In Park County, with the Livingston Food Resource Center seeing a 300% increase in need, rancher Matt Pierson decided to donate a few of his older cows to be locally butchered for donation to food banks in Livingston and Big Timber. Pierson organized more than a dozen local ranchers to donate more than 20 animals, he said. The Park County Community Foundation raised money to help pay for the processing fees.

Like most cattle ranches in the state, Piersons Highland Livestock sells its cattle as feeders that will go to an out-of-state feedlot to be fattened and later be processed at a large processing facility.

Some ranchers have also sought out local markets for their livestock, Miller said, but there is a limited number of in-state cattle and hog processors, which must be federally or state inspected.

Montana politicians, at the request of farming and ranching organizations, have asked the USDA to allow custom exempt processors, who often slaughter deer and elk for hunters, to temporarily process meat for ranchers to donate to food banks.

It will be a critical issue in the future, Miller said. There is an extremely limited amount of slaughter capacity right now.

Montana Department of Livestock Executive Director Mike Honeycutt said the state is pushing hard for the exemption, and has created new temporary regulations to ensure meat is processed safely.

The Montana Department of Livestock has identified a rigorous set of criteria to ensure food safety and humane slaughter, and would not allow such exempted meat products to enter general commerce, Sen. Jon Tester wrote in a letter to the USDA earlier this month. This proposal aims to close the gap between food banks and producers, eliminate food waste, and ensure that we can keep food on the table for Montana families.

Wyoming, which similarly lacks in-state commercial processors, recently amended its Food Freedom Law to allow ranchers to sell cuts of meat directly to in-state consumers by making those consumers part-owners of the cattle.

Pierson said he has heard some interest in that idea in Montana, but he wants to ensure customer confidence that the meat is safe to eat.

All of the regulations we have have been implemented for a reason, he said.

For now, Pierson said, hes glad to be helping at a time when there is so much uncertainty in the cattle market. The Department of Livestock has said it expects some ranchers to go out of business due to the pandemic-driven economic downturn.

That downturn is expected to especially impact rural communities. In some counties in central and eastern Montana, agriculture is tied to up to 80% of the economy, Schumacher said.

Cattle producers, along with wheat and barley farmers, are among the most impacted, said George Haynes, a professor and agricultural policy specialist in extension economics at Montana State University. The cow-calf business, in combination with wheat and barley, makes up more than 80% of the agriculture economy in the state.

With prices having dropped about 30% for cattle and even more for hogs during the pandemic, Miller said, she can tell the donations are helping farmers deal with a time of incredible stress.

That will provide a significant mental health boost when theyre faced with the hardest decision theyve ever made, Miller said of farmers choosing whether to euthanize animals or take significant losses on their sale. For every hog that goes straight to the food supply, farmers will walk that much taller in the barn.

This story is part of continuing Montana Free Press coverage of community responses to COVID-19 supported by theSolutions Journalism Network.

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With livestock prices falling and food banks in need, ag producers find new ways to share - Montana Free Press

My dating profile picture, a blurry, distant figure in a desert landscape, suggested a great deal about my ambivalence: I wanted, and I didnt want. At 47, divorced for nearly two decades and with my daughters grown, I cherished my solitude, but sometimes when I heard the mice rustling in the attic, I thought of the newspaper story I had read about a man not far from where I lived who had been found dead in his flat, partly eaten by rats.

Sometimes I tired of my own company; occasionally I was lonely. I had forgotten what it felt like to touch someone or to be touched. When I held my own hand in the dark to remind myself, my hand seemed small and cool, as if it belonged to someone else.

I wanted connection, but I didnt want what it always seemed to cost: the men who turned me into the sole focus of their lives (Youre the only thing worth living for); the men who told me what I wanted and didnt want rather than what they wanted or didnt want; the men whose expression of concern for my safety revealed itself to be a mask for control and coercion whose words moved from You shouldnt to You cant as they stood blocking the door, preventing me from leaving.

If the profile picture I chose suggested my ambivalence, then the fact that I chose Edinburgh for my location drove it home. Edinburgh lies two national borders and a seven-hour train journey from where I live in a rural part of Wales.

In reality, trying out online dating at a distance of 350 miles seemed a good deal safer than trying it out near home. Doing so could let me test the water without really taking a risk. And even if online dating was only a modern version of my widowed aunt matchmaking at an 18th-century barn-dance or ball, it seemed so artificial, so antithetical to the spontaneity and accident that creates romance, that I thought it would be safe.

There were the usual suspects who ignored my photo and what it said about my ambivalence. The plump accountant who told me I was beautiful despite not knowing what I looked like. The purported U.S. marine in Iraq who used all caps and would no doubt be sending some scammer message about needing me to transfer money. A slightly alarming New York banker wanted to meet me, had to meet me, would get on a plane to come meet me the minute I replied.

I looked at the profile of a man at sea; he seemed safely distant. And there was a climber with a kind face who was good at chopping wood. He lived in Carlisle, a five-hour drive away.

I am fair with an ax but terrified of heights, so he seemed safe too. I didnt answer the accountant or the marine or the banker, and the man at sea didnt reply to me, but the climber did. Soon we were writing to each other regularly across the shortening days of early autumn.

Our correspondence reminded me of having a pen-pal: We told each other little details of our day-to-day lives, of things we had seen or done, but we never mentioned meeting. I asked him about the climbing, but I really didnt want to know. I experience vertigo at the top of a flight of stairs, and the pictures of him inching along a crag above a 100-foot drop gave me palpitations. Even if we ever were to meet, I knew we wouldnt get beyond that first coffee in a caf, or his preference a pint of real ale in a pub.

Ten months later, Im stepping up to the foot of a crag. Everything has left my mind but fear. In my peripheral vision: a void, a nightmare of nothingness. Beneath me, a black slab descends steeply to a limpet-crusted causeway of broken columns.

I tamp down the fear, but halfway up this sea-stack off the coast of Mull, I lose control of it and get stuck. My feet are wedged into a vertical crack. Theres a foothold to my left, a bit higher up, but my left foot is pinned beneath my right, and I cant move it. I cant move my right foot either: theres nowhere else to place it. I cant shift my weight so that I might free my left foot. And I cant step back down, because that way is the void, the nothingness.

I am stuck, and I cannot see a way that I can ever move. My brain toys with me, tells me its insoluble. Even supposing my right foot finds a foothold beneath me, where can I put my left foot but back in this crack? My feet do a little dance in the crack but only end up wedged in more tightly.

Ive got you, he calls down, from far above, out of sight. Youre safe.

He has me secured by a rope, but his words just sound like meaningless noise. My heart races; I cant breathe. I have only the jangled sense of catastrophe.

He takes in the rope a little, so that I can feel hes there at the other end, holding me, but I am frozen, panicking. My hands grip the rock convulsively, and my left leg begins to cramp.

Somehow, though, remembering being in labor, I get my breathing under control. My heart slows from its mad race to a fast, painful pounding. I tell the disembodied voice above me to shut up, to stop making noise. I swear out loud that if I get out of this I will never, ever do it again. I jiggle my feet, lodging my right foot a little higher in the crack, and manage to slip my left foot out from under it. Then I jam it in somehow, scrabbling and slipping, as I bring my right foot back down and in under the left.

My left foot is free to move, but now I have to lunge upward to get it onto the foothold to the left, and that means letting go of what Im gripping so tightly. I dont know what Ill be able to grab hold of higher up when I lunge. I cant let go, and I know I have to let go to be able to move on, and this seems both a profound truth and at the same time the most trite and redundant thought Ive ever had.

This isnt some personal growth seminar, I think, enraged at myself. This is a disaster. And then, because in the end I have to, though I might have nothing to hold onto, I launch myself into the unknown.

Miraculously, my left hand finds a great lumpy protrusion, and then theres a hold for my right, and suddenly everything is possible. The rest has its own logic, almost as though the handholds and footholds appear as I need them, a known thing before its known. And with a kind of exquisite economy, Im lifting myself from one hold to the next, and I am at the lip, and at the top, and there he is, the man who all along has been keeping me safe, whose voice has been carrying me, even though I told him to shut up, while I took the time to find my way and keep going.

Trust, I say, gabbling in the release of endorphins, in a delirium, lying on my back on the wide, flat rock. Trust. Its all about trust.

I watch him, this man who is not afraid of being afraid, who does not need to keep me from taking risks I watch him coiling the rope with which he kept me safe, shaking his head resignedly over the slimy puddle of guano he landed it in, and I realize that, remarkably, he trusted me too. He placed his trust in me to keep him safe as he climbed first, even though I hardly knew what I was doing.

Where next? I say, euphoric at having overcome fear, and now hes looking at me with something like pride and delight in my delight, and warm affection, and deep recognition of me that has nothing to do with words. And I think, So this is what love is.

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You Have to Let Go to Move On - The New York Times