Humanity Hiker

Expect Kindness. Build Community. Believe in Humanity.

[humanityhiker]

Neighborhood Watch

As far as I knew Cindy was outside tending her gardens when I got a call from Nancy, who worked at our post office. “Cindy is walking up Greenwoods Road,” she warned me on the phone. Once upon a time, Cindy walking on her own somewhere in town would not cause concern. In fact, a local newspaper once printed a picture of Cindy walking her dog in the rain. People knew Cindy as the woman who…

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[humanityhiker]

Friendly Neighbors

Here on Emerson Street I often shoveled the driveways of my older neighbors. I had no need for someone to shovel my driveway, but occasionally neighbors with families helped us by watching our kids as well. Neighbors who helped us in turn benefited from errands provided by neighbors we helped. This circle of kindness among friendly neighbors is known as general reciprocity. General reciprocity…

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Cause and Benefit of Belly Sobs

My aspirations have changed from hiking around the world with Cindy to watching geographic documentaries while feeding her.  Today I concluded watching the National Geographic series “Europe from Above.”  Every episode induces at least one belly sob. My belly sobs cross belly laughs with tears of joy.  A brief convulsion in the gut takes the place of an outward display of emotion.  Had I just…

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Making the Most out of Empathy

The next post I have lined up will benefit from first providing a little information about empathy first. Most of us have the natural ability to feel the emotions of others. This post provides some guidance for making the most out of empathy. The literature cites three types of empathy: emotional, compassionate and cognitive. We are most familiar with emotional empathy, the ability to feel the…

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Brain Health Updates - 06/15/26

These updates relate tangentially to brain health. The first discusses brain focus, how willpower does not focus the mind and the key factors that either hurt or help. The other newsworthy article (to me) features the significance of pulse pressure. My keen interest in blood pressure relate to vascular dementia, which involves insufficient blood flow to the brain. Us folks that watch our blood…

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One Person, One Song, One Tip

For the first time I brought my guitar along to the Berkshire Country Store where I sip coffee and write.  My coverage still being too sparse to go after gigs, I aimed to perform again by casually playing a song or two within earshot of customers. Though Ryan the owner would have let me play anyways, I “auditioned” for him by playing “Humility, Faith and Courage.”*  With an original instrumental…

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Cindy's Gaze

Cindy cannot consciously move her muscles.  Consequently I never had to use the guardrails on her hospital bed to prevent her from rolling over.  Even so, over time her default bedridden position leans her to the left.  I correct this by propping up that side a little with a small pillow. In the propped position Cindy’s gaze should be forward, which I make sure happens when I feed her.  She also…

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Brain Health Food Swaps

The other day the title “Tuna Salad Swap” on a food magazine jumped out to me. I wondered if the swap would be hummus for mayonnaise, which I do with my tuna salad. Sure enough, the article featured that “amazing” brain health food swap. I swap hummus for mayonnaise with everything. Hummus provides the same texture and better nutrition. I also think hummus tastes better, or at least provides a…

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Brain Health Updates - 05/05/26

Awareness of lifestyle factors that can enhance brain health includes awareness of the societal factors that make such a lifestyle difficult. An article in Nature elaborates on this: Exposure to negative physical and social factors accelerate aging. Usually there are multiple press releases for any “new” finding that comes out (I have been at this so long as to notice that many “new” findings…

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Alzheimer's Murder Mystery Update

Ten years ago I posted “The Alzheimer’s Murder Mystery,” critiquing the emphasis on anti-amyloid research and drugs. My continued curation of brain health updates came up with three articles related to and verifying that post. My post mentioned donepezil and memantine as anti-amyloid drugs with dubious track records. Ten years later there have been more anti-amyloid drugs, with continued dubious…

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Brain Health Updates - 4/9/26

Spring is good for your brain: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/03/clahs-spring-into-a-sharper-mind.html 7 days of meditation can rewire your brain: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260406192913.htm Waking up feeling more refreshed and alert: https://healthcare.msu.edu/news/2026-4-7-scientists-revel-the-secret-to-waking-up-feeling-more-refreshed-and-alert.html

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Trail Magic Updates - 4/9/26

Several factors fueled my belief in humanity, such as the kindness experienced during long distance journeys. The hiking community calls the serendipitous acts of kindness they experience “trail magic.” With my Google Alerts set to “trail magic” and “trail angel,” I will occasionally curate the results for trail magic updates. Trail magic has changed over the course of my lifetime. Originally,…

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Travel Oddities

I keep my eyes open for travel oddities.  Two of them occurred in Tucson during the week of St. Patrick’s Day. While walking down the hallway from my room I spotted housekeepers cleaning through an open door to another room.  The Residence Inn guest in this particular room evidently had the holiday spirit by the prominent presence of something green. I am not talking about green figures of…

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Writing and Reflection

I spent four days at a Residence Inn in Tucson, Arizona for writing and reflection. Around 7:00 am each day, I had the morning caregiver for Cindy call me. She held the phone near Cindy for my greeting.  I went with the usual endearments:  “you’re my Expedition Woman,” “we make a great team,” “I’ll be back soon,” “I love you.”  I also sang to her a few lines from songs like “Cindy” and “Good…

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Trial Respite

I just returned  from Tucson, Arizona for what you might call a trial respite.  Not since 2017 have I gone past driving distance from my home.  Back then I left for a week while our oldest daughter Charissa stayed with Cindy.  That one week vacation provided some respite, but also some unease at being away from my Expedition Woman.  Would this shorter, four day vacation have a similar effect? …

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The Journey of Life

I am engaged in a ten year endeavor I call “The Unenlightened Wisdom Project: Journeying from Brain Health to Democracy.” Some of the themes from that project overlap with this one and I occasionally will include excerpts. This first one about the journey of life comes from the White Paper that gives an overview of the whole ten year scope. Dave Coverly, the award winning cartoonist for the…

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Brain Health Updates - 03/05/2026

Here are the latest brain health updates. Northwestern University has been at the forefront of studying the lifestyle behaviors that keep a person mentally vibrant into their nineties and beyond. Now they have a study to partially reveal the physiology behind that. Need further proof that nature is good for brain health? Here you go.

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