 J. Franklin Campbell Walker & Photographer |
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A new season, a new camera, and a new Photo Walks web page. With the coming of good walking weather I've started my walks in Mason, Michigan (USA) once again. My old web page is still up and can be seen at 2009 Photo Walks. I've spent the winter working hard in the gym on the treadmill. Walking is less work (burns fewer calories) but is a lot more fun. Also, I can pause along the way to take photos and document my farming town of Mason, Michigan, a pleasant community of about 6,000 or so. I also have a new camera, the Canon G11, to replace my older G9 used on the previous web page. I'll mention its features from time to time and show the occasional full resolution photo for photo enthusiasts interested in that model. Update: In May 2011 I added an Olympus PEN E-PL2 micro four thirds camera, which will be my main walking camera from this point. I added a page with links related to the E-PL2 camera as well.  Please read
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1 October 2011 - Scott Kelby's 4th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk (Marshall, Michigan walk) with Olympus PEN E-PL2/14-150 lens Pro photographer Scott Kelby organizes a worldwide photo walk each year. This year the dates set were October 1 or 2 (Saturday or Sunday) instead of a single day as in the past. My photo walk was organized for Saturday afternoon in Marshall, Michigan (USA). In my 2½ hours I took 220 photos using my Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera with Olympus 14-150 zoom (I reduced the count to 48 for my web page). I carried my new Panasonic 20/1.7 lens in case I needed low-light capabilty, bu the day was beautiful and sunny, so I used only the 14-150. After we finished our photography we met at Schuler's restaurant for an excellent meal. Scott Kelby's 4th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk web site Go to: 1 October 2011. |
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21 September 2011 - Street Photography at the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup Once again following a monthly meeting of the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup a number of members went to the streets to take photos. Here's a selection of the photos I took in Lansing, Michigan's "Old Town". Go to: 21 September 2011. |
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20 September 2011 - Ingham County Court House and Railroad Locomotive Repair Driving back and forth between my home and the local SNAP gym I've often noticed the locomotive sitting unused on a railway spur track. Occasionally I've seen a crew working on this engine, but recently I've noted two large cranes. Since I was in need of a quick exercise walk I determined to check out the cranes to see what I could. On my way there I also took a variety of photos of the famous Ingham County Court House, which dominates the Mason downtown area. It's a beautiful building worthy of being photographed. I've often noticed how it can be seen from many locations, as can be seen from a few of my photos. I particularly enjoy the window reflections showing the building. The photo at the right shows a nice reflection of the American flag in a window of the court house. Go to: 20 September 2011. |
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17 September 2011 - Mason Down Home Days The Spring/Summer season kicks off in Mason each year with the Spring Fling and summer ends with the Down Home Days. As usual I walked to the downtown square to enjoy the event and take a few photos. The walk home was a little harder, given the heavy bags of items from the Farmers Market (the bag of apples contributing most of the weight). I tried out my new Panasonic 20/1.7 lens, finding it a quite nice lens. Go to: 17 September 2011. |
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30 August 2011 - St. James Church Balloon Launch A hot air balloon launch was originally scheduled as part of the St. James Community Festival & Camino of St. James 8K Run/5K Walk held at the St. James Catholic Church in Mason on August 13-14, 2011. It was delayed due to weather till today. A collection of hot air balloon enthusiasts gathered for a 7pm launch of their colorful air craft and provided a fantastic opportunity to observe the methods of filling the balloons with hot air and launching them. Watching them rise into the air and drift off into the distance was an exhilarating experience. Go to: 30 August 2011. |
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26-27 August 2011 - 2nd Annual Sundried Music Festival Last year was the first annual Sundried Music Festival in Mason (see Sun Dried Music Fest 2010 for some photos). This year's event felt even more crowded with music fans and was expanded to start on Friday evening. I took some photos on Friday, when The Full House Band performed on the small stage. I took additional photos on Saturday, including some shots of the Backwoods Band on the large stage. There were many vendors, some activities for the children and a beer tent. A surprising number of people took advantage of the clear area for dancing, including people of all ages. From all appearances people were having a lot of fun, with many on blankets and folding chairs on the Ingham County Courthouse lawn. Go to: 26 August 2011. |
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10 August 2011 Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan with the Olympus PEN E-PL2 and M Zuiko 14-150 lens I got an M Zuiko 14-150 zoom a few days ago to use with the Olympus PEN E-PL2. The 14-42 kit lens proved to be too limiting for photo walks and using my Nikon manual focus lenses slowed me down. Our trip to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan today was a perfect opportunity to test the lens for use in my Mason Photo Walks. My immediate reaction was that the lens was a bit heavy on the rather light E-PL2 body, but it isn't too bad. I just support the camera by holding the lens in my left hand. The zoom range is very nice. The E-PL2's in-body image stablization didn't seem to work satisfactorily at the long end of the zoom, but this may just require a bit of familiarization to learn how to hold it steadily. The image quality seemed similar to the 14-42II zoom, which I had found somewhat unsatisfactory. However, for the purpose for which I bought it (use of reduced size images on web pages) it seems to be acceptable. I can still use the Nikon lenses for more precise work until higher quality lenses become available for micro four thirds cameras (assuming I will be able to afford them). It is rumored that Simga is going to produce lenses for this format. So far I am finding this format excellent to work with, compact body with image sensor a bit smaller that the digital SLRs but much better than most compact cameras. Please check our my photos from this trip. Note that a few photos shown were made using the Art Filters built into the E-PL2 camera, notably the Dramatic Tone filter (you can identify these by the dark clouds in the sky). Go to: 10 August 2011. |
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12 July 2011 A Photo Walk with a Nikon D200 with Tamron SP 35-80 F2.8-3.8 lens Today I wanted to try out my old Nikon D200 again. I haven't been using it much because it is a quite heavy camera. Is it worth getting my first Nikon autofocus lens, or should I just retire the Nikon and continue with my new Olympus PEN E-PL2, a much lighter, smaller camera in the new micro four thirds format? The Nikon has a somewhat larger digital sensor and more professional layout, but would it suit my type of photography? I had some errands to run in Mason so I combined it with a photo walk using the Nikon D200 with an old manual focus Tamron zoom. The photo subjects were chosen strictly for visual interest. I hope you find them interesting. Go to: 12 July 2011. |
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4 July 2011 Independence Day in Mason Mason always celebrates Independence Day in a big way. We had a classic car show in the square in the morning and afternoon, a parade and, after dark, a fireworks display at the Ingham County Fairgrounds. I attempted to document all three here. All photographs were taken with an Olympus PEN E-PL2 micro four thirds camera using a 35mm F2 AI Nikkor lens with manual focusing. The camera was set to "vivid" color, which appears to have been a bit too much. Still, it was a worthy experiment. [update: I introduced too much contrast when I processed the photos for the web page, making the colors look rather garish. I have changed my settings and uploaded all photos. I may return to setting the camera to "vivid" color and give it another try.] The camera is capable of very accurate manual focusing given a bit of time. Fast moving vehicles in the parade presented a real challenge leading me to frequently focusing on a spot and taking the photo as the vehicle arrived at the spot. It wasn't foolproof but in general focusing was not a big issue. Go to: 4 July 2011. |
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15 June 2011 Street Photography at the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup Tonight was the monthly meeting of the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup in Lansing, Michigan, about a 17-mile drive from Mason. It's always fun to share your interest with other like-minded and friendly people who are willing and pleased to share their knowledge, wisdom and love of something you love. We discussed Street Photography during the meeting and then went to the street to give it a try. Street Photography is pretty much what I do on my Mason walks, but I heard about other facets of this fascinating branch of photography. It was also fun to make further use of my new Olympus E-PL2 camera. The photo to the right shows most of the members who braved the rain to take some photos and to continue the discussions that had started inside. Go to: 15 June 2011. |
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29-30 May 2011 Big Storm in Mason / Memorial Day A powerful storm blew through the Mason area on Sunday night May 29 about 6pm. It knocked trees down, shut down electricity, TV and Internet, and got people out on the street examining the aftermath. I went out shortly after the storm and on the following day to document a bit of the damage and to experiment with my new Olympus PEN E-PL2, a micro four thirds format camera. My first trip out was with my old Nikon 35/2 AI manual focus lens. The following day I photographed with the 14-42 II Olympus kit lens. I didn't see much damage to houses, but our trees sure took a hit. The power company called in crews from all over the state and at least one neighboring state to help repair the electical system. Thousands lost their power. We were lucky here to have electric service resumed after only about 28 hours, though TV and Internet took an additional day. Go to: 29-30 May 2011 (storm). |
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24 May 2011 A Walk with an Olympus PEN E-PL2 with Nikkor 85F2 manual focus lens 58 minute walk After injuring my toes on the treadmill a few days ago I've been taking it easy. I decided to test my toes today and get some exercise by taking a photo walk. This was a good time to test out my new Olympus PEN E-PL2 four thirds format camera. I went out with a single lens, a Nikon 85F2 AI manual focus lens. One advantage of the four thirds format cameras is the capability to use old lenses of various brands (with appropriate adapters). I took a variety of photos testing the capabilities of this combination. I also added a new links page for the Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera. Go to: 24 May 2011. |
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7 May 2011 Spring Fling in Mason, Michigan Every year we had our special downtown fair day Spring Fling. In the fall we have a similar Downtown Home Days. It's always fun to get out to see our friends, visit small vendors, hear some local talent performing, buy some baked goods, etc. Go to: 7 May 2011. |
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6 May 2011 Annual Mason Bank 5K Race I participated in my first 5K race last year (also documented here). This year the weather was much nicer. After an additional year of exercising at the gym I was intent on improving on my time. Last year I finished my walk/jog in 41.5 minutes. My first goal was to beat that time, my second goal was to break 40 minutes. I can report that I finished in 39.5 minutes, achieving both goals! With my dedication to improving my time I decided not to carry a camera. The only photos are of the booth set up for distributing starter packages. I got my official race shirt, an identifying number to pin on my shirt, and a "timing chip" to attach to my shoe for accurate start/finish times. A lot of people recognize the shirt, which I frequently wear to the gym for exercising. Also shown on the photos page is a scan of the final results for my age group. I didn't come in last! Go to: 6 May 2011. |
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29 April 2011 A Visit to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan We drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan for our second visit to the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. We timed our visit to see the annual butterfly display before it closed. It sounded like fun and was indeed quite interesting. It was a beautiful day to wonder around the grounds examining the sculptures and enjoying the outdoors. This time we purchased a year's membership so we plan to go back soon. The photo at the right shows a visitor with a butterfly on her wrist. She and others were taking photos. I love taking photos of people taking photos! Go to: 29 April 2011. |
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26 April 2011 52 minute walk I desired a birthday treat today (I reached my 69th birthday) but after dinner my BG (blood glucose) number was a bit too high for desert. It was so nice I decided to go for a reasonably long walk instead of doing the treadmill at the gym. I'm working on reaching my weight-loss goal (only five pounds to go, though I'll probably set a new goal of another 5-10 pounds). The treadmill has been a larger part of my program, but for my birthday I enjoyed a rather nice walk on a really nice evening with a good breeze. My walk accomplished its goal and I got my treat, this wonderful piece of chocolate cream pie. Go to: 26 April 2011. |
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12 April 2011 70 minute walk (actually 20 minutes of walking) It's a nice Spring day and I need to take a short walk to lower my BG (Blood Glucose) reading. Someone asked me about a building on the Mason square with "ROOT" engraved on it, so I headed downtown to check it out, take a couple photos and get a bit of needed exercise. It was a beautiful day, and there was plenty of late afternoon light for photography. I paused to take an artie picture of the Courthouse Pub, showing the courthouse reflected in their window. Then I headed by my daughter's house to take a photo of her new raised garden plot. Go to: 12 April 2011. |
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21 December 2010 44 minute walk Winter has arrived in Michigan. The ground is covered in snow and ice. Still my son-in-law and I braved the cold and slippery conditions for a 44-minute walk to the local middle school and back. As we left just before midnight on Dec. 20 we noticed a police car with blinking lights parked about a block west on Cherry Street. As we continued our walk north we heard sirens, then more sirens as emergency vehicles speeded towards Cherry Street. After returning from the walk I grabbed my Canon G-11 camera and documented the scene as a large number of firefighters with a big collection of fire engines worked to subdue the fire. Go to: 21 December 2010. |
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28 August 2010 Mason Sun Dried Music Fest The city of Mason decided to start a new local tradition with the first annual Mason Sun Dried Music Fest. Many locals volunteered to provide the manpower behind the success of an event like this. Several streets on the downtown square were blocked off with a big outdoor stage set up for the music groups. For this first event the following groups were scheduled to perform: Rock Canyo Band, Frog & The Beeftones, Smooth Daddy, Backwoods Band, Freddie Cunningham & The Root Doctor Band, Ritmo, and Showdown. The music started at noon with people sitting on folding chairs and blankets. There were a number of vendors in addition to the regular Saturday Farmers Market. I walked to the site (not a long walk, but I did have to carry home the produce I bought at the farmers market, at the same site). I strolled around, listening to the music and snapping photos, then bought some produce and headed home. Hopefully this will continue in the future and be a standard fixture in the local calendar. Go to: 28 August 2010. |
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26 August 2010 30 minute walk Today my grandson came by to mow the lawn and have lunch with me. We had leftover stew from last night's dinner, a new recipe for me that ran my BG numbers up a bit last night. Same thing today, so I headed out to get some exercise to run my number down a bit. Another good reason for a photo walk was to document our new Mason City Hall and Police Station. Following are photos concentrating on the new City Hall building and the immediate environs. After strolling past the new City Hall building I headed west past the fire station, then turned south and walked the tracks back to Elm street. There I turned back towards home, walking up my favorite Elm Street hill. One day I must remember to take along my level to measure the grade of that hill. I'm guess 10-12% grade. Go to: 26 August 2010. |
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24 July 2010 Worldwide Photo Walk 2010 Photographer Scott Kelby organized a series of photo walks to take place today. Over 1100 walks have been set up all over the world with over 28,000 individual photographers taking place. See Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walks for more information. Kenny Price led the photo walk in Jackson, Michigan (USA) in which I participated. About a dozen photographers gathered in Jackson and spent about two hours roaming the streets of Jackson snapping photos. I have posted about half the photos I took on my page for this event. There will also be some pages set up on Flickr for photographers to upload their photos. Go to: 24 July 2010. |
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4 July 2010 Mason 4th of July Celebration A one-block walk takes me to the annual 4th of July parade route. Like many small farming community parades, I suspect, our parade has a lot of tractors, fire engines, local politicians, local merchants and kids. Earlier in the day we had a car show in downtown Mason with live entertainment. In the evening we enjoyed an impressive display of fireworks at the Ingham County Fairgrounds. Go to: 4th of July 2010. |
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2 July 2010 56 minute walk Tonight my BG level was a bit up so I embarked on a short walk. Besides, I wanted to drop off some red bean paste buns I had picked up for my daughter Margaret. After leaving her house I headed to the Mason city center, site of the impressive county courthouse where a movie crew had gathered to shoot some scenes for an upcoming movie "Real Steel", starring Hugh Jackman (who played Wolverine in the popular X-men movies). I noted the big trucks arriving on Wednesday, and they closed off some streets and restricted parking in the downtown area on Thursday and today (Friday) for the movie work. By the time I arrived downtown on this walk everyone was gone except for some workers clearing up the equipment and loading the last trucks. I took a few photos of the downtown area and headed to the Mason Elevator Company, where I joined the Hayhoe Riverwalk. Go to: Walk of 2 July 2010. |
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11 June 2010 40 minute walk Today was the last day of school before the summer break, so my daughter and her two kids came by for lunch. I cooked up my special nachos dip and we enjoyed some TV with our food. Big lunch sometimes leads to high blood glucose readings later (or just a full stomach). I decided to take a walk before dinner and recalled my intention to investigate the break in East Sycamore Street, where the area has a sudden change in elevation. The road has a break in it, but late one night while walking in this area I discovered a zig-zag sidewalk allowing the walker to continue along Sycamore Street. Finally I came back to this interesting street during daylight with my camera to document this fascinating street. Just east of this break I encountered the First Church of the Nazarene, which is situated between Sycamore Street and Maple Street. Go to: Walk of 11 June 2010. |
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10 June 2010 My Favorites I have set up a page consisting of a selection of photos from all previous pages. These photos represent some of my favorites, based on artistic sense as well as other factors. As I post future photo walk pages I'll occasionally add photos to this favorites page. A date at the top will indicate the most recent date of making additions, with any new photos added to the top of the page. As with most photos on this site, clicking the thumbnail (small) image will pop open a window with a larger version. Go to: Favorites from my photo walks. |
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9 June 2010 95 minute walk Today I needed to drop my wife's car off at Andrew's Chevrolet on Cedar Street for servicing. So I packed my camera bag determined to have a nice walk on the way home. I headed back to an area explored last summer but not visited since. First I crossed the street from Andrew's and headed east on Buhl Street to visit the Ingham County Drain Commissioner building and the Animal Control & Shelter. The Drain Commissioner building has a fascinating piece of art on the front of the building and the Animal Shelter has those poke-your-head-through-the-hold cutouts. I also finally photographed one of the many trains that pass through Mason on a daily basis. Go to: Walk of 9 June 2010. |
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5 June 2010 Added Mason Links page to this web site listing web pages pertaining to Mason, Michigan. Go to: Mason Michigan Links. |
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23 May 2010 43 minute walk I set out today not only to get some exercise and take a few pictures but also to see my kids' new garden box. Jeff built it on the back of his deck to provide an ideal space for planting vegetables. The box provides an elevated garden area where the soil will never be compacted by people walking on it. Meg has a well-planned design for an good placement of each vegetable plant and a rotation of vegetables from season to season. After visiting and seeing their new garden box I continued through the middle of town, visited the new Mason Community Garden, photographed some local landmarks and just shot some attractive details of this beautiful small town in Michigan farm country. Go to: Walk of 23 May 2010. |
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19 May 2010 44 minute walk Today I needed to take my wife's car to the shop for servicing. While waiting the two hours I had a choice ... do a little reading in the waiting room or take a nice walk around town on North Cedar Street. So I packed my camera and took a 1.5 hour walk (I counted 44 minutes walking time, since I paused a couple times to do some shopping). I couldn't head north since I consider the 127 overpass too dangerous for walking (no sidewalk). I've walked this area before but decided to go off track a bit and see what was behind some of those buildings. Go to: Walk of 19 May 2010. |
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10 May 2010 34 minute walk Tonight I didn't feel like cooking so we had corn dogs, potatoes and for desert brownies with homemade fudge sauce ... carbs in every dish. An hour plus later I paid the price with a BG (blood glucose) reading of 164 ... ouch! I'm scheduled to go to the gym later tonight but I felt I needed to lower my BG level immediately so I set out for a short walk. Fortunately, exercise usually lowers my BG number (different diabetics all have different stories and must test for themselves). It was after 8pm but I decided to take along my Canon G11 camera to test its low light capabilities (this was one of my reasons for upgrading from the G9). You can read some of my detailed comments in the captions to the photos on my walk page. After 34 minutes (including some pauses to take pictures) I got home and my BG reading was down to 115 ... success! There are some 100% crops showing ISO 400 and ISO 1600 at the bottom of the walk page. Go to: Walk of 10 May 2010. |
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7 May 2010 41.5 minute walk/job ... Mason State Bank 5K Run/Walk Few pictures, but I wanted to document my first attempt at a 5K event. The Mason State Bank 5K Run/Walk raised funds for the Mason Public Schools Foundation , which supports our local school system. Unfortunately, the weather was rather bad, but the rain wasn't too bad during the actual run. It started a little after 7pm on a Friday night with what appeared to me to be a good turnout. Because of the weather I didn't take my camera along, but I got a couple shots when I picked up my race packet, consisting of a neat running shirt and a computer chip to be attached to my shoes for the timing equipment. All went well and I exceeded my goal of finishing in 45-46 minutes, my estimate based on my treadmill times at the gym. I was able to jog a bit on the level and downhill portions of the race course, which allowed me to finish in about 41.5 minutes. Of course, those who are runners bested that time by quite a bit and I finished 9th out of 12 in my male age group of 65-69. It was fun, and it does give a feeling of accomplishment. The results of the race are shown on the Playmaker's web site. Go to: Walk of 7 May 2010. |
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1 May 2010 15 minute brisk walk ... Spring Fling in Mason Yesterday I checked out the preparations for the annual Spring Fling event in Mason. Today I went to the Spring Fling. It was only about a 5 minute walk from home for me, so it wasn't a huge amount of exercise. However, it is always fun. I bought some home-made soaps, got some nice goodies from the church food booths, and saw a variety of other crafts and locally produced products in the booths. Go to: Walk of 1 May 2010. |
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30 April 2010 40 minute brisk walk ... First photo walk of 2010 With the local event Spring Fling coming tomorrow I thought this would be a good time to start my photo walks. The weather has gotten quite nice with the harsh winter well past. Also, tonight my GB level (blood glucose) was up to 148 about an hour after dinner, so I wanted to exercise to reduce it to the normal range. Normally 15-20 minutes of brisk walking can do the job. My weight is also a bit up recently so the exercise is doubly valuable. As a diabetic I find exercise an essential part of my life, so taking the photo walks achieves multiple goals for me. My walk tonight reduced my blood sugar level from 148 to 118 and probably burned over 400 calories. Go to: Walk of 30 April 2010. |
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