Just Don't Call It Exercise

Hmmm,
 I want to call my current avocation something - parkathon, park quest, not it. . . I just know I can't call it exercising because that sounds like something other people do, like work like what you do at the end of a chapter of a self help book. However, I have engaged that addictive or acquisitive part in the quest to discover and collect experiences - pictures of park signs . . .

Exercise - perhaps a trip to the dictionary could help

Wiki:

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of enjoyment . . .

Oxford:

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'application of a right'): via Old French from Latin exercitium, from exercere 'keep busy, practise', from ex- 'thoroughly' + arcere 'keep in or away'

I heard something on parkour, let's see per Wiki:

Parkour (French pronunciation: [paʁˈkuʁ]) (abbreviated PK) is a physical discipline of movement focused on overcoming obstacles. Developed in France by David Belle, it is a method of training the human body to become stronger, more agile, and faster, while remaining efficient and able to move more freely. Participants learn to pass diverse obstacles by combining a variety of movements like running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, leaping, and rolling. It uses no equipment and is non-competitive.  .  .

Nope, not parkour . . .

Then I heard some on the radio mention the explorer gene . . . well . . . if they were waiting on someone to discover the new world . . . I don't think it would have been me  . . . but, I do have a bit more of the explorer gene than average, or maybe it's the wandering gene or wondering  . . . quite literally someone at work was complaining of boredom while I was simultaneously going, "What's this, oh, what's this??"

So I guess what I am doing is exploring, I went to 8 parks today all less than 5 miles from where I live - I am amazed they are places so close, but never seen before . . .
 
and while looking up the word exercise I got a bonus - the word for the from the Oxford - not one I have ever seen before:
  
akrasia 

Pronunciation: /əˈkreɪzɪə, əˈkrasɪə/

(also acrasia)

Definition of akrasia

noun

[mass noun] chiefly Philosophy

the state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement through weakness of will.

No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening - still all is Beauty! - John Muir

Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common everyday beauty. - John Muir

Picnic Point WA

yep far up enough for me,  done

Well, I didn't feel the call strong enough to make the trek over the trail to the beach, but I did take a peek around . . .

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe. - John Muir

Logan Park - Lynnwood, WA

It was a long way from the parking lot to the sign, but I was determined to get my picture

ok made it to the end of this stretch, but, alas not the end

a little further

across from the sign some interesting landscaping on the corner of undeveloped land

and now the actual park not much in the way of benches

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. - John Muir

Creative Slurry

 And I didn't even use any computer programs to adjust these photos at all

colorful fun

Edison, WA

huh, wonder why this is wrapped around the pole

Jan, tells me this Edison bread store, Breadfarm, has really good bread

According to Wikipedia the population of Edison in 2010 census was 133. And another interesting tidbit:
Famed journalist Edward R. Murrow graduated from Edison High School

Wenberg State Park - Lake Goodwin

Missing the fact this was a lake - I spent some time wondering how the other shoreline could be so close - way too close to be Whidbey Island . . .

Made down a moderately steep path, I'll pass on the steps this time

Lake Ki - 7 Lakes Area Snohomish County WA