1. I admit it. I really enjoy being in the house, reading, writing, working puzzles, listening to a wide variety of music, cooking, spending time with Copper and Gibbs, but, that said, once I break the spell and leave the house, I enjoy being out and about.
I broke the spell today.
Debbie asked me to mail a package at the post office.
We had food containers to return to Diane.
I then decided, as long as I was uptown, that I would go to the public library, renew my library card, and see if I might find a book to read until my copy of Bridge of Birds arrives. I've enjoyed the few Michael Connell books I've read and decided to check out Resurrection Walk, which features Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch teaming up to, well, I'm not sure yet what they'll be doing. I've barely started the book!
2. I further broke the spell of burrowing in the house by putting on my new sweatpants that arrived yesterday and blasting out to the Fitness Center for the first time in 2025.
I put a mask in my pocket and I'm glad I did. The gym wasn't crowded, but quite a few people were working out. My mask worked beautifully. I bought this particular 50 mask package and there's nothing special about these masks, but for some reason, they are the best ones I've tried.
I huffed and puffed for an hour, thirty minutes per machine.
Not only did this exercise feel great, I was startled by my own stamina, by how strong I felt.
It's encouraging.
I let myself hope that as I continue to exercise, whether at the gym or shoveling snow, that maybe this spring I'll feel up to taking some moderate hikes again.
I miss that.
3. I did one other thing that made my exercise very enjoyable.
Leah Sottile dropped a season of eleven podcast episodes in the fall that I hadn't listened to yet.
The podcast is entitled Hush. It's an Oregon Public Broadcasting production.
The podcast tells the story of Jesse Johnson, a black man who did not commit murder, but was arrested in 1998, tried, found guilty in 2004, and sentenced to death.
He was on death row for seventeen years until the State of Oregon overturned the conviction in 2021 and released him from prison in September, 2023.
Leah Sottile, and her producer Ryan Haas, after countless hours of research and interviews, tell Jesse Johnson's story in Hush.
How did Jesse Johnson, an innocent man, end up on death row for all those years?
Why did the State of Oregon decide not to retry him and cut him loose?
What does Jesse Johnson's story tell us about law enforcement, criminal investigation, justice, crime, the realities of race, and other aspects of Jesse Johnson's and other cases?
I'm three episodes in, hooked, and eager to get back to the gym, not only to exercise, but to listen to the eight episodes I still have in front of me.
Where can you find this podcast? Right here: https://www.opb.org/show/hush/
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