What can you accomplish in a year?

Last week I was so proud of myself for two physical accomplishments.

First, I rode my bike to and from downtown twice, and it didn't kill me.  Woo hoo!  Okay, I admit I couldn't make it back up the hills to get home, and had to walk, but that's okay.  It's just something else for me to work toward.  Secondly, I ran a whole straight mile on the treadmill without a walking break.  (But I think I lose points for that one since the weather was SO nice, and I was running inside on a treadmill.  But I DID IT!)  These things happened after several weeks of gently persuading my body to move a little faster and get a little stronger.  If I keep this up for a whole year, what will I be able to do?

In a year I could cook my through the Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, live my life exactly as the bible tells me, and eat and live absolutely locally.  Well, some people could, and did, and they wrote about it.  Perhaps they will inspire me to accomplish something amazing in a year.

Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell, has become perhaps one of the most well-known chronicles of what one person at loose ends accomplished in a year.  The book is based on Powell's blog, which detailed her efforts to cook her way through Julia Child's famed cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Her exploits and foibles are entertaining, even if I didn't always find her to be a very likable character.  Perhaps that is some of the appeal of the book.  The movie of the same name was only half-based on this book, and the other half was based on Child's fantastic autobiography My Life in France.  Now THERE was a woman who accomplished some things with her life.

Some year-long goals are accomplished a little closer to home.  Okay, maybe a LOT closer to home than the cuisine of France.  Barbara Kingsolver and her family, for example, spent a year eating food that was produced in the area where they lived.  Certainly if a family can do that in Virginia, it should be easy enough to to here where the produce is bountiful, fresh and delicious.  I am eager to read the results of her year in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. 
Kurt Hoelting took the challenge a step further and determined to live within a 100 kilometer radius of his home in Alaska.  He travelled only by kayak, bicycle, and his own two feet for that year, and chronicled it in The Circumference of Home.  He swears that there is plenty of adventure to be had in such close proximity to your own back yard.  Read the book and find out.

The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs, details a different type of journey taken over a year.  "...Increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world," Jacobs made the radical decision to obey the bible for one year.  Literally obey the bible.  To a tee.  The result is a fascinating and humorous tale of an unusual year and a rather unusual accomplishment.

Some days I'm just happy to accomplish another book read.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be running in any marathons soon, since despite my recent physical accomplishments, I managed to sprain my ankle in the second softball game of the season.  Yeah.  Go me.  Perhaps Born to Run will be the next thing on my list.

Keep trying, my friends!  See you at the bookstore--

Pamela.