"Coke" by Flickerstick - walking to the Brooklyn Bridge

*Walking up Park Row towards the Brooklyn Bridge to the "by foot" part of the Bridge on Labor Day 2008



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYLZjmS3mA&hl=en

Wild About The Wildwater Walking Club By Claire Cook - A Review

Claire Cook's delightful novel, SUMMER BLOWOUT, was the first book I reviewed when I began reviewing books. I had picked up SUMMER BLOWOUT, having loved MUST LOVE DOGS that Claire wrote, and was not disappointed. I am thrilled to be reviewing Claire Cook's newest book, THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB just out on May 5. So watch out Ya-Ya Sisters, Wives' Clubbers, and Sweet Potato Queens because the WALKERS have arrived! Claire Cook's new book THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB and the walkers are taking over!

In THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB, Claire Cook gives us three wonderful women who are neighbors on Wildwater Way and at first don't even know each other. It all starts when Noreen Kelly's "boyfriend" convinces her to take a buyout from her corporate position in a shoe company, and she thinks she has made the best choice. However, she soon realizes that her love wasn't just working for the other company but was working her, and Noreen is dumped by the boyfriend and the company. In a fit of frustration and shock, she uses her actually void company ID and buys up every shoe in her size at the corporate shop for 50% off. With that, Noreen takes her shoes and heads home to Wildwater Way to try and figure out what is left of her life.

Sure that her life is over, Noreen sees nothing around her but what she is missing. Not until she makes friends with Tess, her next door neighbor, does Noreen start to realize that maybe her life isn't over after all. Tess, the school teacher who is off for the summer, dealing with a college-bound daughter who isn't speaking to her mom, and Noreen start walking together and they start to talk to each other about life. A third member living on Wildwater Way comes to the group as they meet Rosie. Rosie knows she was doing the right thing moving into her parents' home after her mom died, bringing her family with her, and taking over the lavender farm on her parents' property, but it isn't what she had hoped for. In her friendship with Noreen and Rosie, she literally is able to walk into a different life.

The three women begin to walk their way into a friendship that will turn out to be more than they ever expected. They walk and talk and even start to keep track of their steps using pedometers that Noreen also picked up at the "last shoe buy" she made. Sharing some of the shoes she bought with Tess and Rosie, is not the only thing that Noreen begins to share with these women. Their steps go from being more than just exercise as they take to new directions walking and in life. Noreen attends a career coaching group for unemployed people in her company and sees things through others eyes. She begins to build a better relationship with her own mother thanks to her friendship with Tess and watching Tess's relationship with her daughter. Hanging a clothesline becomes a political issue only found in real life in real writing like Claire Cook's. The walkers take a road trip to Seattle for a festival about lavender and along with all this there are the twists and turns, romances and families, characters and settings that make for a great read that only someone like Claire Cook can come up with. This might be called a 'good beach read' but believe me, you will not want to be sitting in a chair after reading this!

The story is a fast and fun read, but also a learning experience. From this book have grown, and will continue to grow, groups of walkers who will see the value in what these women did and how it changed their lives. How Claire Cook could have known that this book would hit home with so many of us in these economically changing times is anyone's guess. I think that people who read this book will all take away something from it. For most it will definitely be a really good read but for others is will be even more. It may be another way of looking at our neighbors, or like me, it may be a realization that walking is more than just exercise. When everyone can get their hands on THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB on May 5th, we may find our streets more crowded with walkers than ever before...at least there will be happier and more satisfied walkers, that's for sure! This is a book that celebrates friendship and teaches us what Claire Cook intended and that is if you are going to walk the walk, then go ahead and take that first step to talk the talk and make the changes in your life that you can and need to do. As it says on Claire's website "Just put one foot in front of the other"!

Review Written and Submitted by Karen Haney

Running and Walking in Brooklyn

Brooklyn is an exciting part of New York City, full of character and diversity. It also has an enthusiastic running community, some excellent running clubs, and some outstanding running trails. Brooklyn is convenient to reach from Manhattan, either on foot from Downtown or by subway from anywhere on the island, so you do not have to be a Brooklyn dweller to consider running or walking here.

The focal point for running in Brooklyn is Prospect Park, Brooklyn's answer to Central Park. It is 526 acres, roughly two-thirds the size of Central Park. It has a paved loop road, 3.35 miles around, closed to vehicle traffic much of the time. It has some significant hills at the northern end, making for a great training location. It is easily reached by subway, or you can connect on foot from City Hall via the Brooklyn Bridge, scenic Brooklyn Heights, and Downtown Brooklyn (about four miles).

For longer distance runs, I love the triangle of Prospect Park, Bay Ridge, and Coney Island. You can get from Prospect Park to the Bay Ridge shore via Fort Hamilton Parkway, Leif Ericson Park, and the shore trail. The shore trail will also take you on to the Coney Island Boardwalk. You can then get from Coney Island back to Prospect Park via wide and friendly Ocean Parkway. The whole loop is about 20 miles but you can easily just do pieces of it since there are subway stations at all apexes of the triangle. Both Bay Ridge and Prospect Park are excellent places to end a long run because there are many good casual restaurant/bars close by for winding down afterwards. Coney Island is not so good for restaurants and bars but it does have an amusement park and Nathan's Famous hot dogs so it may work for you as a destination.

The third leg noted above is the route of the Brooklyn Half-Marathon run in late May - the course of that race involves a couple of loops of Prospect Park followed by the run along Ocean Parkway to finish on the Coney Island boardwalk. This is a great race that I would recommend to anyone.

Brooklyn also has some excellent longer distance running further out. The trail following the Belt Parkway along the shore can take you about seven miles from Canarsie to Sheepshead Bay, optionally continuing further along the streets to Coney Island. There is also a long route connecting that trail to the Rockaway Beach boardwalk in Queens. All of the endpoints in the above - Canarsie, Sheepshead Bay, and the Rockaways - are served by subway so you can devise some very interesting outings here without making it an out-and-back route.

Even if you are not so keen on long runs, be sure to run or walk the Brooklyn Bridge (and/or the Manhattan Bridge) and continue up to Brooklyn Heights to admire the Manhattan skyline from that angle.

Enjoy your running or walking in New York's most fascinating borough, Brooklyn!