Go, Zen! That's great. I've slacked off my step-running because my steps are gone! The stadium where I work out has been closed for months for renovations. Boo! It's also interfered with JZ's running since it's a lighted track and the safest place for women to run at night in the City. It'll be back in January.

But I did find that keeping it simple really helped me work out regular. I honestly didn't try to push myself that much; I just tried to be regular about it. In fact, I found out that pushing a 50+ year old body too quickly just led to nagging injuries. But it didn't matter - I wasn't training for a marathon. I just wanted to use my body. And just by sticking to it, doing something 3 times a week, I did drop about 20 pounds. But that wasn't my focus. It was all about using my body and gaining strength and energy.

I'm grateful that I am now able to watch and feel joy rather than sorrow.

It's good to see there is light on the road.

ION, I know you will all be shocked, shocked to hear that a woman of color was ripped off in the early 20th century and did not receive recompense for her hugely popular work.

Pamela Coulman Smith did the art for the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, still the most popular in the world and the most influential.

She had a Jamaican mother, was probably a lesbian, was certainly a bohemian and her contribution has been overlooked.

Her fascinating story here: [link]

I've slacked off my step-running because my steps are gone!

And levitating really isn't as good of a cardio workout as running the steps.

And levitating really isn't as good of a cardio workout as running the steps.

I'm no zen master like Wile E. Coyote.

His cardio workout was from the frantic flailing once he realized there was, in fact, no ground beneath his feet.

His cardio workout was from the frantic flailing once he realized there was, in fact, no ground beneath his feet.

Frantic flailing is a surprisingly good workout. IJS.

I'm still very much enjoying the strength training and getting good results from it. If I time my circuits right, I can get a good cardio workout from the weight work. I do need to be careful not to push too hard, too fast. Otherwise, things will start hurting in a not-good way.

One of the great side effects from doing the strength work is that it has done a lot to help keep the Body Image Demons under better control. It's as if concentrating on the function of various body parts has made their appearance become less important. Yeah, body image is still a problem, but it doesn't occupy nearly the same amount of headspace as it used to.

Thanks for the link, David. Smith seems like a fascinating person.

US Games released a 100 year anniversary commemorative deck with a photo and a self-portrait of Colman Smith, six color postcards of her artwork, and the recolored deck with a softer look and feel more in keeping with the early 1900s. Somehow I've ended up with three different Rider Waite decks--plus the Giant, the miniature, the Radiant, the Universal, and the New Visions, which is the scene on each of the cards depicted from the back. The original is definitely a classic.