BLUE ZONE BLUES

Like many of my readers I’ve gone through a few things.

Which you’d expect after nearly seven decades.

But does that mean everyone else has too?

Google ‘blue zone.’

The Blue Zones have populations eating a simple diet and engaging in constant physical activity.

 

If you want to live longer, try making these lifestyle adjustments:

• Stay active: In Blue Zones, people participate in activities like walking, gardening, and housekeeping.

• Reduce stress: Take time for relaxing and caring for your own needs.

• Have a purpose: It is healthy to have other things in your life beyond your job and your daily routine.

• Family: People in Blue Zones tend to place high importance on extended family.

• Social connections: Having an active social life and being a part of a community can help you live longer.

 

Breaking Down Blue Zones

Are Blue Zones like real estate rules?

You know the one about location, location, location.

All sources include the same locations for five Blue Zones.

But before you sell everything you own for a loss and pack your bags, consider this:

A long life may be more than a location.

Just because Mississippi has the lowest life expectancy they still have long-lived folks.

From 2017:

Newscenter 11 has the pleasure of introducing you to someone, who is possibly the oldest woman and maybe the oldest person in Mississippi.

“I feel good, good, good. I feel good, good. Long as I know I’m talking to my Jesus, I feel good,” sang Mrs. Sallie Mae Cooley during Thursday’s interview. The 108-year-old says she has a whole lot of reasons to sing.

“I walk all the time by myself,” said Cooley.

Preparing for her 109th birthday in December, Mrs. Cooley says she counts each birthday as a blessing.

 

December birthdays are the best. Hey Barbara.

 

From 2020:

Asked if she had any secret to a long life, Cooley said, “Eat well.” Some of her favorites included greens and peas. She was renowned for her biscuits. She also was adept at making cakes and pies, she said.

 

Blue Zones On My Block

 

Yesterday a jackass of a neighbor gave me a weather report while I walked my dog Ruby.

This is after the incident I posted on twitter.

Is he a blue zone guy?

Am I? Listen, I have a problem talking to someone who’s an a-hole one day and sweet as pie the next.

A closer neighbor has cameras set up around his property to monitor traffic.

And my house.

What do you say to a guy who posts a drug deal going down on his network, and the picture includes my house?

The surveillance state is real, at least for him.

One day he’s friendly, the next day he’s got a mood.

As a married man I’m not interested in keeping up with moods other than the wife’s. Hi, honey.

Now, I’m not a doctor, a shrink, or an antagonist who asks, “What the fuck is your problem, pal?”

That doesn’t seem like blue zone behavior.

But I do wave and say hello to pinched up scowls on bi-tri- or quad-polar faces.

If you want to live to 100 years old, look around for those who have.

Look at their quality of life. Is that what you want? In America it’s often about nursing homes and wheelchairs and bed rest all day before bed time.

It’s a steady stream of shit-talk from people who know better, but think you don’t.

Do more and be more, that’s what I’m saying.

Take a nice Slovember to think about it.

 

Blue Zone Blues

When your birthday season comes rolling around
I don’t want to find you six feet in the ground
Or cooling your heels in a pretty glass urn
After a hot crematorium burn

Set your sights on a lifestyle change
Where you get outside and ride the range
Even if it’s only a walk around the block
You’ll be extending that lifetime clock