Ugh!

from the Austin American Statesman the other day...

City might add admission fee for two free-swim hours at Barton Springs

By Sarah Coppola | Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 12:16 PM

Austin’s Parks Department might charge an admission fee during one extra hour in the morning and evening at Barton Springs Pool.

The hours of 8-9 a.m. and 9-10 p.m. currently have lifeguards but no admission fee, and officials say attendance has grown so large, especially at night, that they must keep a full shift of lifeguards on duty.

Read the rest and attend the public hearing on the matter.

Many of those attending before 9:00 am are runners soaking their legs after a long run. At least on Saturday and Sunday mornings. If the City starts charging at 8:00 a.m., I think I'll permanently be found soaking my legs downstream in shallow runoff waters of the dog park. The water is just as cold as the water in the fenced Barton Springs pool. There are more snakes, turtles, dogs, ducks and people downstream in the dog park, but in many ways it's more interesting. And, best of all it's free. Well, free until the City decides to fence it off and charge a fee for it too.

On This First Day of Spring...Breathe

Here is one of the books I'm currently reading. Ultra Longevity by Mark Liponis.

Which includes... 1. Breathe: Proper breathing is the way to access the automatic functions of your body and send a peaceful message to your immune system.

Which leads you to wonder how clean your outdoor air is. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality & AirNow

And also leads us to clean up our indoor air. Kamal Meattle breaks it down what you need to do in his brief TED lecture.

Which should get us to make changes to adopt these behaviors;

• Exercise outdoors in the morning when the air is cleaner.


• Purchase and maintain more indoor plants.


• Monitor the air when spending a length of time outdoors. Did you know on this beautiful first day of spring in Austin that the forecast calls for moderate levels of Ozone today?


• Make sure you select the Air Recirculate button on your car's AC system when in traffic so you're not breathing the exhaust from the car in front of you.

Soaking the Knees

After the long run I coaxed Fish and L into soaking their legs in Barton Springs. I guess I've acclimated to the cold with the ice I've been applying to the foot lately because the springs didn't feel that cold.

Getting into the springs was treacherous. Normally, the area is crawling with dogs and their owners. The algae is kept to a minimum with all of the paws and feet crawling across the rocks. Not so in winter. Fish, who's more comfortable in water than on land, dunked himself into the 68-degree cool stream on a piece of the green stuff.

Fifteen minutes in the cool bath recharges the knees to their springy norm and reduces the inflammation.