The End

The sunsets here are almost always stunning. We did the Lula walk to watch this one, the furthest Mike has walked in quite a while. The rest of the day spent mainly reading, sunbathing for the healing Vit D, and eating for him; picking asparagus, cooking, reading and a bit of sunbathing for me. Oh yes, and watching all three of our Sutton church's livestreams; well, the 6:30 one will be in a bit…

Gratefuls:
- time to rest after yet another fairly broken night and swapping sides in the middle so he didn't have to climb down a ladder (but he is improving)
- hearing cranes and then seeing them flying over
- lunch outside in the warm sunshine - in November!

The Body, ch 23 - The End, p137
...people in one of the poorest regions of Costa Rica, the Nicoya Peninsula, live longest of all even though they have much higher rates of obesity and hypertension. They also have longer telomeres (read book to see what they are!). The theory is that they benefit from closer social bonds and family relationships. Curiously, it was found that if they live alone or don't see a child at least once a week, the telomere length advantage vanishes. It is an extraordinary fact that having good and loving relationships physically alters your DNA. Conversely, a 2010 US study found, not having such relationships doubles your risk of dying from any cause.
The question at the moment is whether virtual relationships have the same effect... my suspicion is not.