Walking in Rossmoor July 2015

Did You Know? - Every minute you walk extends your life 1 1/2 to 2 minutes!

That's right, when it comes to lifespan, walking gives you a two-for-one special! Research shows that people who walk tend to live longer and the more they walk, the longer the extension. If you ever doubted it in the past, here's proof that every minute does indeed count. And don't dare think that adding a few minutes to your life isn't meaningful. Over time, those minutes

Regular, brisk exercise of any kind can improve confidence, stamina, energy, weight control and life expectancy and reduce stress. It can also reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure, bowel cancer and osteoporosis.

Scientific studies have also shown that walking, besides its physical benefits, is also beneficial for the mind, improving memory skills, learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning, as well as reducing stress and lifting spirits.

Sustained walking sessions for a minimum period of thirty to sixty minutes a day, five days a week, with the correct walking posture, reduce health risks and have various overall health benefits, such as reducing the chances of cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, anxiety and depression.

Life expectancy is also increased even for individuals suffering from obesity or high blood pressure. Walking also improves bone health, especially strengthening the hip bone, and lowering the harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and raising the useful high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Studies have found that walking may also help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's.

Did You Know? - Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae.

Most morning glory flowers unravel into full bloom in the early morning. The flowers usually start to fade a few hours before the "petals" start showing visible curling.

Because of their fast growth, twining habit, attractive flowers, and tolerance for poor, dry soils, some morning glories are excellent vines for creating summer shade on building walls when trellised, thus keeping the building cooler and reducing heating and cooling costs.

Morning glory was first known in China for its medicinal uses, due to the laxative properties of its seeds.

Ipomoea aquatica, known as water spinach, water morning glory, water convolvulus, ong-choy, kang-kung, or swamp cabbage, is popularly used as a green vegetable, especially in East and Southeast Asian cuisines.

Did You Know?

• People have been passionate about roses since the beginning of time. In fact, it is said that the floors of Cleopatra's palace were carpeted with delicate rose petals, and that the wise and knowing Confucius had a 600 book library specifically on how to care for roses.
  
  
• Wherefore art thou rose? In the readings of Shakespeare, of course. He refers to roses more than 50 times throughout his writings.
  
  
• 1,000 years old. That's the age the world's oldest living rose is thought to be. Today it continues to flourish on the wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral of Germany.

Did You Know? - A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass, generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops.

Alternatively, tile can sometimes refer to similar units made from lightweight materials such as perlite, wood, and mineral wool, typically used for wall and ceiling applications.

In another sense, a tile is a construction tile or similar object, such as rectangular counters used in playing games (see tile-based game). The word is derived from the French word tuile, which is, in turn, from the Latin word tegula, meaning a roof tile composed of fired clay.

Did You Know? - Helianthus or sunflowers (from the Greek: Hēlios, "sun" and  anthos, "flower") is a genus of plants comprising about 70 species in the family Asteraceae, all of which are native to North America except three species in South America.

The common name, "sunflower," also applies to the popular annual species Helianthus annuus, the common sunflower.

This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke (H. tuberosus), are cultivated in temperate regions as food crops and ornamental plants.

Did You Know? - Picket fences are particularly popular in the United States, where the style has been used since America's earliest colonial era and remains popular today. They are a decorative way to contain pets and children without blocking views, and are used around both front and back yards.

Traditionally picket fences were made out of wood and painted white (or whitewashed), but now picket fences are also widely available in polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Did You Know? - A green leaf is green because of the presence of a pigment known as chlorophyll, which is inside an organelle called a chloroplast. When they are abundant in the leaf's cells, as they are during the growing season, the chlorophylls' green color dominates and masks out the colors of any other pigments that may be present in the leaf. Thus the leaves of summer are characteristically green.

n late summer, as daylight hours shorten and temperatures cool, the veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf are gradually closed off as a layer of special cork cells forms at the base of each leaf. As this cork layer develops, water and mineral intake into the leaf is reduced, slowly at first, and then more rapidly. It is during this time that the chlorophyll begins to decrease.

Did You Know? - Passiflora edulis is a vine species of passion flower that is native to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. Its common names include passion fruit (US), passionfruit (UK and Commonwealth), and purple granadilla (South Africa).

It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy fruit and is widely grown in several countries of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Southern Asia, Israel, Australia, Hawaii (Liliko'i) and United States.

The passion fruit is round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit is both eaten and juiced; passion fruit juice is often added to other fruit juices to enhance aroma.

Did You Know? - Calendula officinalis (pot marigold, ruddles, common marigold, garden marigold, English marigold, or Scottish marigold) is a plant in the genus Calendula of the family Asteraceae.

It is probably native to southern Europe, though its long history of cultivation makes its precise origin unknown, and it may possibly be of garden origin. It is also widely naturalised further north in Europe (north to southern England) and elsewhere in warm temperate regions of the world.

Pot marigold florets are edible. They are often used to add color to salads or added to dishes as a garnish and in lieu of saffron. The leaves are edible but are often not palatable. They have a history of use as a potherb and in salads.

Flowers were used in ancient Greek, Roman, Middle Eastern, and Indian cultures as a medicinal herb as well as a dye for fabrics, foods, and cosmetics. Many of these uses persist today. They are also used to make oil that protects the skin.

Did You Know? - A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a derivation of the Old English "bearwe" which was a device used for carrying loads.

Did You Know?

Fact 1 - Definition: A snail is one of numerous species of terrestrial air-breathing gastropods belonging to the genus Helix and many allied genera of the family Helicid. A gastropod has a one-piece coiled shell and flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes. A mollusc is an invertebrate having a soft un-segmented body, usually enclosed in a shell.

Fact 2 - They are abundant in nearly all parts of the world except the arctic regions, and feed almost entirely on vegetation - a land snail.

Fact 3 - Other gastropods include fresh-water and marine snails

Fact 4 - Snails hibernate during the winter and live on their stored fat

Fact 5 - There are 200,000 species of snails

Fact 6 - The shell of land snails is usually light brown with darker brown bands which follow the spiral of the shell

Fact 7 - The largest land snail is the Ghana tiger snail, which can grow up to 12 inches

Fact 8 - The largest snail is the Syrinx Aruanus from Australia which grows up to 30 inches and can weigh 40 lbs

Fact 9 - The bottom of a snail's body is called the foot

Fact 10 - The foot of snails contains a gland that makes slime, a sticky substance that helps the snail move along

Fact 11 - The predators of snails include Chickens, Snakes, and Toads

Fact 12 - A snail grows a new spiral every year

Did You Know? - Rosa foetida, known by several common names, including Austrian briar, Persian yellow rose, and Austrian copper rose, is a species of rose, native to the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia.

It has yellow flowers with a scent which some find objectionable. Since there were no yellow roses native to Europe, its introduction from Persia was an important addition to the cultivation of roses, and R. foetida is now an important contributor to the stock of cultivated roses.

Did You Know? - A nest box, also spelled nestbox, is a man-made enclosure provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for birds, in which case they are also called birdhouses or a birdbox/bird box, but some mammalian species may also use them.

Placing nestboxes or roosting boxes may also be used to help maintain populations of particular species in an area.

The nest box was invented by the British conservationist Charles Waterton in the early 19th century to encourage more birdlife on the wildfowl and nature reserve he set up on his estate.