It’s May in New England, which means: flower power time! In particular, the tulips are out and showing off all over town. Everything is blooming these days, and I am reveling in the colors, shapes and textures of spring.
For whatever reason, this spring I’ve been in search of novelty– I’ve been craving new experiences and sensory experiences. One way I’ve satisfied this desire has been to seek out more music and dance– I’ve gone to two modern dance performances and heard four classical music ensembles live.
I’ve also brightened up my home by buying flowers through the winter– mostly Trader Joe’s tulips (20 stems for $12.99– you can’t beat that deal). Now I have a spring flower share, which I’m loving.
But now that spring is really really here and the weather, while often rainy, is warmer, nature is beckoning. I just renewed my membership to Garden in the Woods, and am planning a visit there with friend as soon as my final exams are over.
I’m also planning a trip to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, a humongous place with a great variety of gardens and natural areas to explore. It’s in Boothbay, Maine, a place I’ve never been, which is also a plus in the travel novelty category.
Now that I think about, my need for color and shape and texture outside the four walls of my home is not particularly novel. I wrote about my search for May flowers a couple of years ago. You can read it below.
This just goes to show that everything new is also old again. Which is kind of good news, I think.
Hi readers– remember Sunday, when I wrote about my love and extreme sappiness about the Boston Marathon? Well, I’m not alone in having strong feelings for all things having to do with this event. Witness the hullabaloo around the following signs put up recently in Boston by running shoe companies. Here’s one advertisement ill-advisedly run by a company that rhymes with “Mikey”:
Red sign saying “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated,” Really, Nike? For shame.
Bostonians and visitors alike were feeling serious consternation and not keeping quiet about it. Yes, the Boston marathon requires pretty ambitious qualifying times (e.g. 3 hours for men ages 35-39 and 3:30 for same-aged women). But lots of people who enter are raising money for charities, so their finishing times are much longer.
Also, those who are not runners and who complete the race in wheelchairs or in cooperation with others on dual teams were also mentioned in comments. Don’t they count, Nike?
After realizing their bonehead mistake, Nike made this tepid statement of non-apology:
“We want more people to feel welcome in running – no matter their pace, experience, or the distance. During race week in Boston, we put up a series of signs to encourage runners. One of them missed the mark.”
Ya think?
Then their corporate sign-makers got to work and put up this more contrite version:
The new Nike sign, saying”Boston will always remind you, movement is what matters.” hmph.
Other shoe companies were not unaware of Nike’s gaffe. A company whose name rhymes with “basics” put this sign up in short order:
Purple-bluish sign saying “Runner, Walkers. All welcome. Move your body, move your mind.”
And that’s not all. The shoe company Altra put out an ad that led with “Run. Walk. Crawl,” and captioned a social post, “Go where you’re celebrated. Not where you’re tolerated.” Yes, I know that this is corporate piling-on for the purpose of rearranging market shares. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it, right?
Congratulations to all those who entered the Boston Marathon and who completed it, regardless of mode. And speaking of signs, if any of these corporate folks need some tips, asking the people at the Wellesley scream tunnel for advice. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy…
Signs saying “blink twice if you need Dunkin'”, among other things.
Tomorrow, Monday April 20th, is the 130th Boston Marathon. It’s a special day in Boston, roughly coinciding with Patriots’ Day, commemorating the first battles of the American Revolution in Lexington and Concord, MA. We also celebrate the rides of Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott from Boston to Concord (although Revere was apprehended by the British). Reenactors on horseback retrace the rides on Patriot’s Day and there are parades and reenactments of revolutionary things.
In fact, on one Patriots’ day, while I was cycling with a friend in Lexington, MA, we saw a lot of people on the side of the road. I said to her, “I think there’s a parade happening here.” She disagreed until we spotted a guy in Colonial garb clip-clopping down Mass Ave in our direction. We prudently and expeditiously pulled over to the sidewalk to join the rest of the onlookers.
These reenactors aren’t in Lexington, but the one on the left is riding down Mass Ave. in Arlington. The three riders on the right are playing Prescott, Revere and Dawes. It’s fun to watch them and the rest of the colonial pageantry.
But the main reason why there’s a bank holiday Monday in Boston is the Boston Marathon. Tens of thousands of runners, their friends and family and marathon fans flood Boston, roads are closed for the race, and much of the city stops what it’s doing to watch the wonder of the 26.2 mile (42.1Km) event.
I admit that I rarely head to the course to view the marathon in person, but I always watch it on TV. With coffee, maybe pancakes or an omelette and toast, I make sure I’m in place for the start (Men’s and Women’s Wheelchair and Handcycle at 9:06 am and 9:09am, 9:37am for the Elite men, 9:47am for the Elite women), and then do house chores with it going in the background. The Wheelchair Elites finish starting around 10:30am, The Elite men cross the finish line starting around 11:45, and the Elite women winner will cross the line by 12:10 or earlier.
It’s that women’s finish that always makes my heart swell and my eyes water. Every time.
I don’t follow professional marathon racing, so I don’t know much about the women runners prior to listening to the color commentators that morning. And I am not nor have I ever been a runner myself. But as they hit the 20-mile and head up Heartbreak Hill in Newton, I am glued to the screen. Watching their form, their speed, their demeanor– it just gets to me. In the best possible way. I’m cheering them, worrying about them, feeling sympathy for those running out of gas on the course, and anxiously awaiting the last push to the finish line on Boylston Street.
Sometimes it’s a tight race to the end. Other times someone has pulled out ahead and is the clear winner coming out of the Kenmore Square tunnel at mile 25. Either way, I’m on the edge of my seat on the sofa.
When the women are in sight of the finish line tape, I always get choked up. Happiness, pride, inspiration (in a good way), relief– I have all the feelings. Every time.
I love watching the women run and finish the Boston marathon. Their race reminds me of how hard they have worked to get a spot in the marathon (women weren’t officially allowed to enter until 1972, although two women ran and finished in 1966 and 1967) and how hard they have worked to make their way as professional athletes.
Readers, do you have a special women’s athletic event that you follow, that makes you all teary-eyed and proud? I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, I’m getting my Marathon Monday breakfast all ready…
Hi readers– starting this month, I’ll be posting a research roundup– a selection of information about new studies out that may be of interest to us (or not), of relevance to us (or not), and whether we should pay attention to them (or not).
Usually I’ll be posting on the third Wednesday of the month, but this is a special Friday edition. Woo-hoo! So here goes…
We get this message from time to time, but luckily for us (well, me, at least), science is still saying that:
Messaging saying “thick thighs actually do save lives”. Yay!
Large population studies have consistently found that lower-body strength is one of the strongest predictors of mortality ever identified in human health research.
And the relationship holds even when researchers control for: • age • body weight • cardiovascular fitness • physical activity
In other words: strength itself matters
We know that there are lots of simpler tests and functions that can serve as proxies for more complicated physiological tests and body functions; lower-body strength seems to be one of those.
We hear debates about intensity vs volume in exercise, and some recent reseearch suggests that intensity has more impact than volume. This 2026 article says so, in fact.
But, consistency matters, too. At least in resistance training, says this guy (who seems really happy, maybe because he got on the news?)
“The best resistance training program is the one you’ll actually stick with,” says Stuart Phillips, distinguished professor in the Department of Kinesiology and an author on the Position Stand. “Training all major muscle groups at least twice a week matters far more than chasing the idea of a ‘perfect’ or complex training plan. Whether it’s barbells, bands, or bodyweight, consistency and effort drive results.”
We already sort-of-knew that science believes that exercise helps our brains in a bunch of ways– maybe it helps stave off cognitive decline, boost memory and reasoning, and loads of other things. You can read a CDC overview about brain benefits of exercise if you want a deeper dive.
But what about the other way around?
Which way does the causal arrow go? Maybe both ways! Thanks Ian Taylor of Unsplash for the pic.
In a recently published study, researchers found a connection between a group of neurons in the hypothalamus and capacity for boosting physical endurance in workouts over time.
IN MICE.
What? Well, here are some of the details:
[Researchers] worked with mice that underwent a rigorous exercise training program. They ran five days a week on a [teeny] tiny treadmill, with a single weekly long run that increased in speed. This training significantly raised their endurance, which peaked about three weeks into the program.
The researchers found that some SF1-producing neurons had an uptick in activity. As the training program continued, these neurons became increasingly active, seemingly forming a kind of “memory” of past exercise.
When these neurons were blocked from firing in mice after their exercise programs, their endurance capacity did not rise. Taking the opposite tack, artificially increasing the firing of SF1-producing neurons after their exercise programs led to continued endurance improvement even at the three-week mark, when it typically plateaued in mice with normal SF1-neuron firing rates.
Apparently the brain does something. And the brain stuff happens as the mouse is on the teeny-tiny treadmill. That’s all I got.
All this is very well and good, BUT: is anyone actually lacing up the sneaks and getting out there? Turns out, yes.
A CDC report released April 7 finds that nearly half of all US adults get the recommended level of physical activity. Here are some details:
In 2024, 47.2% of adults age 18 and older met the federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity, with men being more likely to meet the guidelines (52.3%) than women (42.4%).
The prevalence of meeting the federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity increased with increasing education level.
Adults living in the West were more likely to meet the federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity compared with those in other regions.
Aerobic physical activity was higher among adults without disabilities (49.8%), those with healthy weight (54.8%), and those with excellent or very good health (57.8%).
This is good news, as it shows an uptick in levels of physical activity, which (as we know) is good for a lot of things. Now, the fact that prevalence was lower among higher-weight folks and adults with disabilities shows (in my view) that we need more programs and more access and fewer structural barriers to physical activity for all of us. Don’t you agree?
A bunch of people playing with hula hoops, doing gymmastics in a gym. Looks like fun.
That’s it on the blurbs for now. See you all next month. If you have a request for comments or blurbs on any new research you come across, post it on our social media pages or add a comment down below.
Hi, dear readers! This is the first installment of my spring tulip share from Five Fork Farms, a local and sibling-owned-and-run farm and CSA. This was half of my birthday gift to myself. The other half is their fall dahlia share (which of course I will share with y’all when it comes out).
Nothing says spring to me more than tulips– these are delicate yellow-and-pink parrot tulips on my dining room table.
A simple blue vase with lovely, frilly butter-yellow and pale pink parrot tulips. Ain’t nature grand? And yes, that’s my robot T shirt hanging on a chair. Well, nature is complex and varied in its beauties, I guess…
There are two promises of more:
I’ll share my weekly spring tulips with all of you– it would be selfish to keep them all to myself.
I’ll share my new monthly regular Research Roundup post this afternoon. Stay tuned…
Last Tuesday, I tuned 64, a pretty innocuous age to become, but I celebrated it with gusto. Here are the numbers:
64 years old
19 adults at a total of 3 celebrations
4 dogs in attendance
3 cakes (lemon pound, chocolate mousse, chantilly cream with berries)
1 swim party at a local pool
1 game of Pass-the-Parcel
1 senior discount admission to aforementioned pool (savings of $2)
unknown number of candles on cakes
infinite fun
I love birthdays– mine, other peoples’, the general concept– I’m all in. I mean, what’s not to love? There are cakes, cards, sometimes presents, often games, people, often interesting food, and generally more hugs than usual.
Some of my favorite birthdays have involved activities. I’ve had skating parties, bowling parties, outdoor games parties, beach parties, and several swim parties. I’m now bullish on swim parties because it’s fun for all ages. My friend Rachel brought her 3-year-old Teagan, and my friend Roz brought her daughter Roxie. Because we spent all our swim time in the kiddie pool area, children and pool toys were swirling all around us. I personally enjoyed both to the maximum extent.
I’m also bullish on a birthday party game that’s new to me but a standard in lots of other places: Pass the Parcel. It involves wrapping one regular present, then adding layers of wrapping, with little gifts or sweets or messages in between the layers. You pass the parcel around with music playing, and when the music stops, the person with the parcel unwraps a layer. It’s a standard kids’ party game in the UK, but (like the swim party), I think it’s good for all ages. I plan to implement it at my nephews’ birthdays in June.
The addition of dogs at my birthday celebrations was new but most welcome. I met a new dog (hi Bindi!) and got to reunite with the others (Dixie, Ruby and Wylie). They patrolled the area for dropped food items, came over for pets, and looked very happy to celebrate with me.
Seriously, I think we underplay our birthdays in adulthood. It’s so nice to plan a fun break from the usual routines (or let others plan for you) and focus on the pleasures of the moment, enjoying the sweetness in all its forms.
So, in case I forget, dear readers– Happy Birthday to you all (in advance or after the fact unless it’s today).
CW: discussion of paying people to lose weight, with an eye to showing its flaws, both medical and moral.
Saturday morning I was perusing my email and ran across the most recent Ethicist column in the NY Times. I enjoy and respect philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah’s thoughtful answers to sometimes thorny, sometimes appalling social and moral questions. We don’t always agree, but then again, what two philosophers are always on the same page? We even manage to make a living (if not a very handsome one) disagreeing.
Articles, books and comics, all honoring philosophers disagreeing. It’s a thing.
Back to the issue at hand. The Ethicist was called to weigh in on the following question:
Can we ask our son to go on weight-loss drugs in exchange for a house?
If you’re in a hurry, here’s the answer: no.
For those of you who prefer pictures to words:
No. Absolutely not. Thanks, Debby Urken for this colorful NO.
Before I get into what I think is wrong with paying people to lose weight, let’s hear from Appiah. He was his usual measured self, but he came down strongly on NO. Here’s a bit of the question:
Several years ago, my husband and I purchased a house for our son, with an agreement that he would pay us back. He remodeled it from scratch and has been making his payments to us fairly regularly, though he misses occasionally when other priorities arise. We both agree that we would like to gift him the remaining balance on the house...
Our son, however, is morbidly obese, and my husband wants to condition the gift on his getting on a GLP-1 program, which would mean using about half his monthly savings to pay for the medication. I feel that a gift is a gift and you should not extort a grown man, even when it is in his best interests. Your thoughts? —
Basically they’re asking if it’s okay to withhold giving the house to their son (which they had already planned to do) until he starts taking a GLP-1 weight-loss drug for weight loss.
What does The Ethicist say in response? Here’s an excerpt:
It’s not always wrong to attach conditions to a gift. Sometimes the conditions are intrinsic to what’s being given. There’s nothing coercive about a college fund that requires enrollment…
By contrast, your son is fully capable of judging the evidence and deciding what to do with his own body. His choice not to pursue treatment may be misguided, but it’s his to make, and the condition is unrelated to the gift. What your husband is considering isn’t extortion; withholding a benefit isn’t the same as imposing a penalty. But it’s disrespectful.
…not only does your husband’s plan treat your son like a child, it also may not be effective in the long run.
So consider another gift, the kind where the condition is intrinsic to what’s being given: Offer to defray the costs of his treatment. You have the means, and this way you’d be giving him something without saying anything about how much you trust his judgment. He may still decline. If he does, you’ll need to make your peace with the fact that it’s his body and his life.
Okay, I think that is an okay, if overly mild-mannered answer.
Here’s my non-mild answer, which is in three parts, in increasing levels of non-mildness.
Part one: Paying people to lose weight isn’t effective long-term.
There are loads of studies examining the effectiveness of financial incentives for weight loss (as well as smoking cessation and other health-related behaviors). What’s the upshot? Some people respond in the short-term (that is, during the period of the study or cash payments). In this 16-week study, participants were put into three groups: 1) playing a lottery in which they won money if they hit target weight; 2) depositing their own money and receiving funds if they complied with protocols and also hit target weight; 3) control group.
What happened? After four months weight loss in experimental groups was higher (13–14lbs) than in the control group (3.9lbs). But at the seven-month follow-up, differences were not statistically significant. And few of the participants opted to continue the financial incentive study.
There are loads of such studies, along with systematic reviews, and they generally show the same outcome: maybe a little weight loss to start, but 1) it’s a small amount; and 2) participants regain weight after the study ends. Which is demonstrably bad for health– yo-yo dieting leads to lots of bad health outcomes.
Part two: paying people to lose weight is coercive, showing disrespect for them as autonomous persons.
In the studies I looked at, the participants tend to report lower incomes, and the financial rewards are typically in the $300–500 range. This amount may convince someone who needs the money to participate, but it preys on their economic insecurity rather than appealing to whatever motivations they have about any health-directed behavior change. We see this pattern in other global health care ethics issues, in particular around surrogacy tourism, where vulnerable populations have been targeted for coercive financial arrangements. Read more here about surrogacy tourism in India.
Am I saying that paying people to lose weight is ethically just like paying them for surrogacy, or for their organs? No. But, once money is in the mix, exploitation, coercion and abuse have quickly followed, and this is well-documented.
What Appiah suggests instead is that the parents offer to cover the costs for GLP-1 meds IF their son wishes to take it. That’s the mild-mannered approach I mentioned above.
Here I part ways with him. Is offering to pay for another person’s GLP-1 meds a sketchy move? Yes. Why? Making such an offer is implicitly making a negative judgment about another person’s weight (namely, that it should be lower), conveying that judgment to them, and forcing a confrontation/discussion about the person’s own weight and health values and goals, which are nobody else’s damn business.
To be sure, we commonly negotiate uncomfortable and personal discussions with people we are close with, especially about health-directed behaviors. Sometimes those discussions are useful, resulting in extra support that is appreciated.
However, in the case of body weight, I argue that silence about it is always golden. We are all aware of what our bodies are like, and are reminded constantly of the ways they may fail to conform to unrealistic media standards. In short, the son knows what his body size is like, and is doubtless well-versed in general population concerns about body weight ideals. Which leads me to part three:
Part three: making an unsolicited offer to pay for another person’s GLP-1 meds reinforces the culture of weight stigmatization and discrimination, and burdens the other person with a vivid reminder of it in the face of someone they care about.
Yeah, pretty much that. The son is getting a clear message that his parents think his body is unhealthy, too big and needs to be smaller. And they are considering leveraging his need and desire for a HOME against their desire for him to change his body size. Ew.
And even Appiah’s soft-soap approach still conveys the parents’ thoughts and judgments, even if it doesn’t implicitly threaten him (yes, they are making a positive claim– giving the him a house– but there’s a negative one underneath–making him continue house payments).
Just as the son certainly knows what the parents think about his body weight, he also probably knows that they will help him if he asks. IF HE ASKS.
So, my advice is saying nothing until and unless he asks for financial help in paying for GLP-1 meds.
This baby says be quiet, hold up, say nothing. Thanks, baby.
My dear readers, you may agree with me, or you may disagree. As a philosopher, I welcome all comments. So tell me what you think…
Yes, it’s that time of year again. You may be thinking, but I feel like I just cleaned up from the last manatee-appreciation blowout I hosted. Well, time does pass quickly when you’re a manatee fan (like I am).
The most fun I had in 2025 was with manatees. My friend Gal and I went swimming with them at Crystal River, Florida. During the winter, the manatees head in from the Gulf of Mexico (no one there uses any other name for it) looking for the many warm springs, all comfy-cozy at 72F/22C year round.
You have a bunch of options for communing with the manatees:
viewing them from numerous bridges and platforms in state parks
paddling in a see-through plastic kayak and viewing them from above
snorkeling in the water, seeing them swim by, below and around you
Gal and I took the third option, and boy was it amazing. That day happened to be warm, so there were fewer creatures to see, but the ones we saw were massive and cool-looking.
A manatee surfacing to take a breath.Murky water, massive manatee.
I’m definitely going back, hopefully to see a large aggregation of manatees (that’s what google says we should call them). I highly recommend this for you, your families, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, your creditors, your old flames, everyone.
If you’re interested in some of the posts in which I sing the praises of manatees, here you go:
I’ll leave you with this selfie of Gal and me at daybreak in our wetsuits, ready to see manatees. I admit that I inserted the baby manatee myself– it didn’t actually pose with us. But it’s awfully cute.
Happy Manatee Appreciation Day!
Catherine, Gal and imaginary (but cute) baby manatee.
Wondering what science has been up to while you’ve been working, working out, sleeping, cooking, streaming? Here are a few science news bits and bobs for your reading pleasure.
First up, great news that we already knew, but science is in our corner: people need 7 vacations a year to reduce stress. Well, duh. But hey, if science says so, maybe work and life will follow? One can always hope… You can find some studies here and here.
Nothing says vacation to me like flamingo floatie. By Vicko Mozara for Unsplash.
New research suggests that cutting sweets doesn’t actually reduce cravings. Here are some details:
A new clinical trial found that adjusting how sweet a person’s diet is does not affect how much they enjoy sweet foods. Whether people ate more or less sweet-tasting items, their preference for sweetness stayed the same.
The study also found no meaningful differences in markers linked to heart disease or diabetes. Over six months, participants who increased or reduced their intake of sweet foods showed similar results across all health measures.
Interesting… Very interesting.
Here’s one that’s not particularly good news for me: a FB post cited a study saying that earlier bedtimes translate into greater longevity.
A recent study reveals a fascinating connection between sleep habits and longevity: people who go to bed before 10 PM live, on average, 6 years longer than late sleepers. Prioritizing early, consistent sleep supports the body’s natural circadian rhythm, improves hormone regulation, and strengthens the immune system.
Early bedtimes help the body repair tissues, consolidate memory, and detoxify the brain. Sleeping late disrupts these processes, leading to higher risks of chronic diseases, cognitive decline, and overall lower life expectancy. Studies also show that people who sleep early often maintain better heart health, stable metabolism, and reduced stress levels.
But I’m a bit skeptical about this. Digging a little deeper, we see that getting even a little more sleep (25 minutes, for example), can confer health benefits both short-term and long-term. We sort of knew that. And, lots of people work on earlier schedules, which means that early to bed and early to rise is a good plan.
BUT BUT– being a night owl when you don’t have to rise early doesn’t seem to be as harmful IF it’s not a symptom of sleep disorder, alcohol or substance use disorder, or depression. (I say this as a completely impartial night owl myself).
I don’t have a scientific study to back me me, but I think sleeping in this condition is to be avoided generally, mainly because it looks very uncomfortable.
This person should seriously consider changing into pajamas.
My cold is of the regular kind, involving headache, congestion, runny nose, intermittent sore throat, and copious coughing.
It’s not catastrophic, but it is a drag. I’m tired, coughing a bunch, have no appetite, and I need rest and a some down time to get past it.
But have I gotten a lot of rest? NO. Okay, I’ve rested some, but did I take any sick days Monday or Tuesday? NO. Why not?
Hard question. Actually, not-a-hard question: I just didn’t feel like I could take time off work and my regular life to rest and do nothing other than rest until I felt a good deal better.
I did compromise by Zooming into meetings and classes I teach. But, I also prepped for classed and did a little grading and a medium amount of email Monday and Tuesday. And I also prepped for a talk I’m giving on GLP-1 drugs and food noise for a primary care medical practice on Wednesday, because I didn’t want to cancel or reschedule.
I can’t help but think.
What if there’s another way? By Jon Tyson for Unsplash.
OF COURSE there’s another way. There’s calling in sick, which is a privilege for those who have jobs that allow them to. I have such a job– I’m a college professor at a state university and member of a union that fights for and wins benefits like paid sick leave.
BUT BUT… We had a bunch of snow days this term. My students/colleagues will be/feel let down if I stay home. I’ll get behind on work/syllabus/meeting minutes. And it’s not like I’m seriously ill. I just have a cold. What about that?
Right. Exactly–no no no to this line of reasoning. Down with this sort of thing. By Don Lodge for Unsplash.
Sometimes– in particular (but not limited to) when we are sick, we need to shut down and do nothing but rest. Here are some role models I found.
This cat looks very comfy.This fox is sacked out.
Can we all pause and think about following the lead of Cat and Fox when the need arises? I’m working on it. After my talk on Wednesday. By which time I hope and expect I’ll be on the upswing.
But for next time… Here’s hoping, for all of us who work through things when maybe we don’t absolutely have to. Just a thought.
