Sepia Saturday #172 Walk-A-Thons

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My computer was balky, then a noise developed and the video display started to break up into digital bits with square black spots popping up here and there. I'd neglected to back up (gulp) for the past six months - laziness and sloppiness. Finally the machine bit the dust...well almost bit the dust. Fortunately, I was able to save all my information and successfully migrate from the old machine to the new one. Being informed by the Apple store geniuses/genii that my 5 year old Mac was not only critically ill but VINTAGE came as a surprise. Here are the old and new machines..the old has been converted to a passive hard drive while I migrate. Now that the old machine is vintage, I think the photo qualifies for Sepia treatment. 

This week's prompt gets a big thumbs up from me for the smiling faces. Everyone looks like they're having a wonderful time. I hadn't realized my own family was so sedentary until a search through my photos looking for walking/hiking shots yielded nothing!

Thinking about other happy walkers though reminded me of the many fund raising walks people enjoy so much, probably the most popular being those for breast cancer research.

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. SF citizen.com

Which made me wonder when and how the "walk for dollars" originated. Trusty Wikipedia coughed up this about Ramon Rivero:

     In 1953, Rivero organized the world's first known Walk-A-Thon. He walked 80 miles from the capital city of San Juan,    crossing Puerto Rico up and down the treacherous mountain roads of Cayey, known as "La Piquiña", to Ponce, on the other side of the island, to raise money for the Liga Puertorriqueña Contra el Cáncer (the Puerto Rican League Against Cancer). In that walkathon, Rivero raised the equivalent of $85,000 in 4 days. The Walk-A-Thon turned into a historical event that became part of the collective consciousness of Puerto Ricans all over the world, and has been copied several times since.^[12] Rivero also defended the victims of injustice during student revolts at the University of Puerto Rico, and led the first actors' strike on the island.^[4]

Ramon Rivero

I've followed in my family's footsteps (or lack of footsteps) and kept off the hiking trails. The last time I attempted an organized walk was an impromptu exploration of the lovely Cotswold Way last autumn. We did only a short part of the path but loved tramping through the fields, navigating the lover's gates and enjoying the occasional encounter with other hikers. Our foray was unplanned; we had none of the accoutrement authentic hikers employ: walking sticks, back packs, fancy hats with various specialty flaps, cell phones, GPS systems, bandanas, toilet paper, Swiss army knife, trash bags, insect repellent, sunglasses and sunscreen, first aid kit, fire starter, matches, rain gear, energy bars, water, flashlight - to name a few. We'll have to do a bit of shopping if we return to do the final 95 miles.