Bats, Babies, and Bicycles

 Dear Real Academics,

What do bats, babies, and bicycles have in common? Apart from starting with the letter "b", my husband, puppy, and I ran into all of them on our walk/hike this weekend on the historic Railroad Pass in Boulder City, Nevada. 

The Railroad Pass is a walking/hiking path that runs alongside the mountains adjacent to Lake Mead and leads to the Hoover Dam. The pass goes through a series of tunnels blasted into the mountains back in the 1930's when the Hoover Dam was being constructed (known as the Boulder Dam back then). 

Railroad tracks were laid down to transport materials from Boulder City to the dam construction area. Today, the tracks have been covered and people like to walk (their dogs), push strollers with babies, jog, and ride their bikes along the trail and enjoy the beautiful views of the lake. 

Here is a picture of us on the trail this weekend. If you look closely, you can see one of the mountain tunnels in the background where, of course, bats live:


What does any of this have to do with writing or productivity? LOTS! In fact, I thought of titling this post, "Hike and Write" or "Write and Hike" or "After you Write, go for a Hike!" or "Go for a Hike, and then Write!" But, I wasn't sure I liked the "Hike" and "Write" rhyme. 

In any case...my point for this week is to remind you of the importance of taking care of your real human physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. If we don't do this, we'll decline in our productivity.

In my line of work, I spend a lot of time behind computer screens or phone screens. I am sure many of you can relate -- many of us (reading blogs like this one! lol) tend to live in a screen-type of world. On top of all this, a lot of what is on my screen at times can get very scary or depressing or discouraging at this time in history. 

With that said, it was incredibly therapeutic for all of us, including our puppy, to get out into the fresh air and spend the day outside and seeing things beyond just a computer screen. And to see BEAUTIFUL things. 

So, dear Real Academics, I encourage you to plan to spend a good day (or at least a couple of hours) outside moving your body, breathing fresh air, and seeing beautiful scenery. I promise it will pay off and help you be more productive and sustain that productivity!

Until next time,

Maggie
www.therealacademics.com

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