Solvitur Ambulando

The final days of the year offer a fine opportunity to look back, assess and ultimately look ahead. In that spirit, I wanted to share “The Best of Solvitur Ambulando 2023,” both the best essays from the newsletter, as well as some of the best insights I encountered this year – and that you may want to check out too. The Best of Solvitur Ambulando The Body Issue On coming to love my not normal body Walks in Nature 30 Tramps, Saunters, Hikes, Strolls, Jaunts and Rambles Be Yourself. Be Patient.

For 28 years, I have read Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. No matter how good or bad the year, or how busy I find myself, I make time to re-read the book. It’s always a joy and a welcome year-end pause for reflection. Last year, I reflected on the book’s themes of business and partnership: In Life, My Spirit Never Walked Beyond Our Counting-House This year, I read with no preset agenda.

On Monday, I had my stress test at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I last took one in 2021. With my congenital heart defect, my doctor likes to assess my cardiopulmonary functioning under intense exercise conditions every other year. In 2021, my results were…fine. Not amazing, not terrible. I lasted a bit short of seven minutes on the bike. As I described in October, I trained up for this one.

Longtime readers of this newsletter may have caught the drift that I love books. A book, a cup of tea, a fire in the fireplace, and life becomes pretty darn nice. This year, several readers reached out asking if I would share the list of books I read across the year. I am nothing if not accommodating to the yearnings of my adoring public. And so, forthwith, here is the list of books I read this year, or should I say, felt called to read.

The approach of winter sends me to my kettle and teapot. As the air cools, then chills, then freezes, I need a hot beverage to thaw my insides and purple hands. And for that noble purpose, nothing in the world beats a cup of holiday-season-inspired tea. Over the years, I’ve found my favorites. This year, I decided to expand my horizons and test out some new Christmas teas. My reviews – brutal, honest, firm – are below.

Well, we’ve come around the sun yet again. With Thanksgiving this week, Amazon, CVS, Costco, and the consumer-retail megalodon are already beckoning us towards Hanukkah, Christmas, and other festivities. I’ve been eating Christmas Tree Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups since August. Readers have flattered me with their feedback on my previous gift guides and so the tradition continues. The items below will surely wow, Wow, WOW your family, friends, and other loved ones.

My dear friend Pat Mulloy serves as the Upper School Head at St. Paul's School for Boys near Baltimore, Maryland. We grew up on the same block and attended the same school. He knew my Dad and family, and I know his Dad and family. He enjoys my musings on Solvitur Ambulando, especially my reflections on my relationship with my father and mother. Pat kindly asked me to speak at this year's Father-Son Weekend at St. Paul's. The text of my speech is below. Or, you can listen to the speech here too.

These 30 Walks in Nature did not feel like a project. They felt like a calling – a calling into peace, a calling into health, even a calling home. As each walk started, my pulse quickened in anticipation and curiosity. After a few steps, my heartbeat returned to normal. A smile spread across my face. My body felt, and stepped, lighter.

Introduction Over the summer, I reflected on my recent walks in downtown Louisville. It reminded me how little of my walking occurs in nature. In the mid-1800s, barely a mile from Concord, Henry David Thoreau might trek off from Walden Pond for ten or twenty miles of sauntering in the deep, wild woods. Today, in the early 2000s, most of us live in urban areas. We can find nature but we must seek it out. We must go to it.From July 19th to September 30th, I took  30 walks in nature.