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| Ambulate with the Barber Newsletter |
| 225th Anniversary Letter | May 13th, 2011 |
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Greetings!
Good morning! How are you? When we say that, we are tilting our head to the right, talking slowly, and looking you straight in the eye. Why? Because we mean it. We're having a great week in Walk with a Doc Land. We are so excited to see the streets filled with people. It's about 20 minutes before the sun will set. We're walking, skateboarding, cycling etc. There are several groups of people dancing (a couple of them on cars). Out of an open second floor window comes "Rhythm of the Night". You look up to see where that sweet sound of DeBarge is coming from. There is some dude sitting on an open window sill with his left knee bent on the ledge and his right leg inside. He's nodding his head to the beat and his wide smile is saying, "What's going on my man? Is this not the best tune ever?" Everyone is out having fun, smiling, and saying "This is crazy. I'm not going to bed til 4 a.m...if I sleep at all". That's the scene - people moving, dancing, and laughing. Everyone is wiping out heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and Alzheimer's etc. but no one is thinking about it because they are having too much fun, being in the moment...with El Debarge.
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Walk with a Doc
Some people have been kind enough to ask over the years how we came up with the concept of Walk with a Doc. We inevitably would say something like, "Seemed like the right thing to do."
This of course enabled us to indirectly take credit for the idea. Today, it's time to come clean.
My great, great, great grandfather's great, great grandfather's father was Sir William Osgood. Sir Osgood was a barber in the mid to late 1700's (back then barbers were what today's generation calls doctors). The story, as it has been passed down over the generations, is that Sir Osgood was roommates with Hippocrates, the father of medicine, while they studied at Cambridge.
As many know, Hippocrates is quoted as saying, "Walking is man's best medicine." That made a strong impression on my great, great, great... grandfather. Well, the two of them went their separate ways after graduation. Hippocrates went east to Greece while Sir Osgood traveled to the new land that was being colonized into what we now know as the United States of America.
Sir Osgood (his patients called him William) began to meet with his patients in his home state of Virginia, outside of office hours to promote 'ambulation' to 'ward off evil humours'.
I became fascinated by this as a young child would often escape to my parent's dusty old attic. I would spend hours reading Sir Osgood's leather-bound journals that detailing his "ambulations"; their tattered pages yellowed with time. The hours would pass like seconds and it was not uncommon for my parents to find me asleep in that pile of memoirs.
Ladies and gentleman, the idea of Walk with a Doc was born by Sir William Osgood, or is it more just to say Hippocrates? The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
Anyway, about 18 months ago I returned to the attic and came across what I believe to be the first newsletter Sir Osgood had emailed. (Back then the distribution list serve was only 11 people.) I wanted to wait for the 250th anniversary of it's writing, and I am very proud to share it with you today. (I've added notes parenthetically to aid in its reading/translation)
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Ambulate with the Barber
...and Ward off Evil Humours!!
Date: Thirteenth of May, in the Year of our Lord
Seventeen hundred and Sixty One
 Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Merry Gentlemen of Newcastle (while certainly now women are widely recognized as the superior gender, centuries ago they were often treated as second class citizens - not even allowed to vote!). As a humble barber in your village, I wish to propose a festival of sorts to thee. I therefore offer the suggestion of a Saturday morning congregation at the edge of Sherwood Forest. This will commence to an ambulation (the word walk had not yet been invented) through the wooded areas of our great Virginian wilderness. Prior to our departure, we shall engage in the consumption of porridge and gruel. The young milk maidens of the land shall serve upon us coffee. For those unaware, coffee is a beverage best served hot. It was recently discovered and brought back from the West Indies by our good friend, Mr. Christopher Columbus. I believe it shall prove to have many benefits to our health. As we lightly feast, we shall be engaged in oratory delivered by a young physician from Philadelphia, Mr. Benjamin Franklin (yes, this was THE Benjamin Franklin!) Mr. Franklin will share his well-researched thoughts on the defeat of scurvey and ricketts - two common maladies of our time. Upon our return, we shall have our heart rates measured by students of the University. Our goal is to achieve between 60 and 80 (same as it is today! 250 years later). We will end our session with my best advice on how to live all the way to 40 years of age! Hint - it includes one hundred and fifty minutes of activity per week . As your fellow barber and friend I thank thee. See you Saturday, Sir William Osgood (my great...great grandfather earned his knighthood by defeating 4 dragons with his bare hands over the course of his life) |
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This Weekend - Columbus
As always, please visit (www.walkwithadoc.org) and click on the black shoes for times and locations of this weekend's walks. We are extremely lucky to have doctors beginning Just Walk in multiple states across the US and beyond. In respect to that good fortune, we are very sensitive to making this newsletter non-regional in
nature and vowed to never again discuss Columbus specifically. We are going to forget about that for a second.
This Saturday morning is Race for the Cure in Columbus, a wonderful event we fully support that has grown to greater than 50.000 participants. Therefore, we will be moving our Highbanks walk from Saturday to Sunday morning at 9:00 - in our same location.
I would love to hang out with you Sunday at the park with all our friends.
Please call us at 614-714-0407 with any questions.
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Healthy Ohio Fitness Walk
Wednesday, May 18th Noon at the Statehouse
 We are very proud to take part in this great event. Thank you to MaryAnn Shahade RN for including us in this special day.
Please come join us on the West Lawn of the Statehouse for a one mile walk this Wednesday. The day should prove to be glorious. |
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Thank you for your patience with us. We are proud of you hitting (or at least trying for) your 150 minutes each week. It truly saves lives. Have a great weekend and I will see you Sunday...and Weds.
My best,
David
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