chasing answers newsletter #65

The real fountain of youth

“Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.” - Pedro Calderon de la Barca

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Happy Sunday!

The intense heat that’s been assaulting areas around the globe finally found its way to Ohio this week. We had multiple days in the mid 90s with extreme humidity to go with it, and if you listened closely, you could probably hear me bitching about it all the way from Ohio, regardless of where you live. 

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading north to Canada, visiting an area currently experiencing high temperatures in the mid 70s, which sounds absolutely delightful. It’ll be a week primarily off the grid with lots of kayaking and hopefully lots of practice on my landscape photography. 

So, the newsletter will continue to be short and to the point for at least a few more weeks. 

Now, let’s get to it.

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The Real Fountain of Youth

According to this article from Euronews.com, studies show that living near green spaces can slow biological aging. In the studies, those who lived close to green areas had a biological age of 2.5 years less than those who did not.

Some of the benefits of spending more time in green spaces were a 33% reduction in the use of mental health and asthma medication and a 25% reduction in the need for high blood pressure medication. 

This isn’t at all shocking to me. In fact, I would argue that the more green, the greater the benefit. Last year on a trip to the same area that I referenced above, I noticed that many of the locals seemed to be in excellent shape and in remarkable health for their age. This was despite living what many would consider a “rough” life. Many lived off the land in many ways, even hunting and fishing for much of their food, but they were remarkably fit and physically capable. They live hours from the closest Walmart or Costco and are surrounded by miles and miles of wilderness, which seems to benefit them. 

I know many people love cities and have their arguments for them, but I don’t think anything beats a cabin in the woods, and it seems science (at least some of it) agrees.

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Photo(s) of the Week

This is from a hike my wife and I went on that's just about three hours from where we live. Despite what many believe, we do have some areas in Ohio that are more than just farm fields.

I hope you all have a great week!

If you want to see more of my work, please visit chasinganswers.co.

Thank you for reading, and if you liked what you read, please share.

randy