82-Year-Old Biochemist & Trekker Knows About Exercise

"I like to measure things," says retired scientist Mort Civen, as he describes the benefits of walking on Signal Hill. He can tell you exactly how much his blood pressure is reduced with his time on the Hill.

With a Harvard Ph.D. in Biochemistry and 28 years conducting research on the adrenal gland (A "key to life," he says.) in his lab at the Long Beach Veterans Administration facility, you expect this 82-year-old trekker and fitness advocate to know what he's talking about.

Civen points to the physical, mental and emotional benefits of exercise; just  a little time on the trail, he says, and any hint of depression vanishes.

He's lived in Signal Hill for 25 years and now that he is retired, he walks daily on the Hill, alternating between trails on the north and south sides of the Hill, while listening to classical music on his iPod.  He is very grateful to the City of Signal Hill for making its semi-rustic trails available to all.

He walks with two lightweight, German-made LEKI trekking poles, with built-in shock absorbers, to give himself an upper body workout and to take a little pressure off his legs.

Civen is no newcomer to trekking, however. Several times, he took extended hikes in Nepal, including a visit to the famous Mt. Everest Base Camp.  He has also bagged peaks in Patagonia, Peru, Bolivia, California Sierras, and used to regularly hike up our local Mt. Wilson.

When talking with Civen, you understand its not just about physical health.  It's clear he's considered carefully what's important in this life, and he's willing to share it.  He reads--mostly about science--he walks, he listens to music, he enjoys the beauty of nature, and travels to distant lands and visits exotic cultures.  He's currently planning  his next overseas trip to New Zealand.

"I feel lucky," he says, to be healthy and so fully engaged in life.  He shares all this with his two daughters--a teacher and a medical doctor--living in Southern California, grand children, and his artist partner-companion with whom he lives.

And I feel lucky to have had this Pleasant Encounter with one of Signal Hill's "regulars."

He also wears a cool hat, just laundered.


---  RCH

(For more, click on the Pleasant Encounters label below or the slide show above right.)

Four Words of Encouragement

"Good goin'," said I. "You too," said she.

Most Pleasant Encounters on Signal Hill are fleeting: no opportunity to take a photo, no chance for a brief caption. Usually it's a friendly smile, a warm greeting, a word or two of encouragement. Today, Liz and I shared these four words of encouragement, and then met up again at the Hilltop for this photo.

I was powering up one of the steeper streets on the Hill when she passed me on her new baby blue road bike, complete with fingernails to match. This brief exchange, a flashing smile, and then it was back to work.

Liz, of nearby Lakewood, has been seriously riding since last October, and is happy to announce she has lost 57 pounds. But, to be able to keep up with her fellow cycling club members, she needs to improve her hill-climbing. So for now it's one day a week on Signal Hill. Tomorrow she's got an even longer hill ride on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Four words of encouragement and a final promise: "We'll be seeing you on the Hill and online."

(Scroll down or click on the slideshow to the right for the entire Pleasant Encounters on Signal Hill project.)

-- RCH

Endorphines Prompt Lively Discussion

A good workout brings out the best in us. Some say it is the increased blood to the brain, others claim its the higher levels of endorphins. It's probably both.

I stopped to view the plume coming off a Wilmington oil refinery fire, seen in the distance, after my 45 minute vigorous walk on the Hill. Bryan, of Long Beach, did the same after running up the Hill's steepest street-- four times!

As we watched the plume grow, we started commenting on the parallels with the British Petroleum disaster currently playing out in the Gulf. I asked his opinion about how well President Obama is handling the disaster, and he gave me a nuanced response. "The situation is far too complex to pin blame," he said. He then went on to discuss the multiple agencies, jurisdictions and historic considerations involved, unwilling to join the large numbers of Americans who say Obama is not responding well.

"Complexity" kept cropping up, as Bryan ranged from problems confronted by developing nations; to his documentary video project in Guyana, (formerly British Guyana in South America) where he was born; to the challenges of living a life of principle, exemplified by the just deceased coach John Wooden.

Finally, we discussed the political complexities of preserving open public space, pointing to the Hilltop Park and the trails nearby.

Bryan, owner of an IT company in Long Beach found at Shuffler.com, runs daily on the Hill. "I love those trails," he said.

We shook hands twice before we parted, and said we'd be seeing each other on line and on the Hill.

-- See slide show to the right for the entire Pleasant Encounters project

-- RCH