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By Julie DeardorffChicago Tribune

It’s no wonder thatfitness resolutions

tend to fizzle inFebruary. Americans

vow to get in shape at theworst possible time of the

year; just when miserableweather forces us indoors.

We do have health clubs.And winter kicks off themall-walking season. Butsome suspect that we need

more than just physicalexercise to stay healthy.We need the emotionalhealing benefits of greenexercise.

Also known aseco-therapy, greenexercise simply meansdoing something,almost anything,outside. You won’tnecessarily burn morecalories in nature’sgreen gym. But you canget substantial mentalhealth benefits —reduced stress, depres-sion and anger, and

enhanced mood andself-esteem — simply by

seeking out the naturalworld, according to growingevidence from researchers inthe United States, Scandina-via and Britain.

In fact, in color therapy,green balances the nervoussystem and is believed tohave a calming, soothingeffect.

Reconnecting with theenvironment could be assimple as viewing nature in apicture or through a window.Studies have shown thatprisoners and hospitalpatients reported betterhealth when living in roomsthat face farmland and treesrather than brick walls.

Scenery also made adifference for another groupof shut-ins: treadmill run-ners, according to research-ers at the University of Essexin Britain. They found thatrunners who zoned out onidyllic rural views during a20-minute run had the mostsubstantial drop in bloodpressure and the mostimproved psychologicaloutcomes.

The runners forced to lookat gritty city environments,or “urban unpleasant” views,fared the worst.

Even those who had “noview” on the treadmillreported better outcomesthan the ones looking at therun-down urban scenes.

Or green exercise couldmean sitting in a park, bikingto work, walking, fishing ordigging in the dirt.

The stress-reductionbenefits of healing gardens inhospitals (which we couldnow call “green care”) date tothe Middle Ages.

Lifei

EThe Fresno Bee

Tuesday, February 12, 2008fresnobee.com

I have two “life stories” that Ihave kept separate.

Last week, those lives cametogether at the funeral of a womanI consider my aunt.

Inside a small Southern Califor-nia chapel, I stood among hergrown children, daughters,

sons-in-laws,30-plus grand-children, and20-plus great-grandchildrenand great-great-grandchildren.I was surround-ed by relatives,many of whomI had never metand otherswhom I have

not seen in more than 30 years.During the eulogy, I heard my

first name mentioned with adifferent last name. The minister,her son, was a former gangmember turned born-againChristian. By DNA, he is mybrother.

In fact, I learned I was one of 11children.

The funeral was for my biologi-cal mother, whom I have knownsince childhood. She died Jan. 29at age 87. She is survived by herhusband.

Maybe you’re like me, amongthe 5 million Americans who areadoptees. My adoption is termedan “informal adoption,” in whicha relative adopts a child. Myadoptive parents were Carlos andRachel Aguirre, both now de-ceased. Rachel was my biologicalmother’s sister.

My adoptive parents, who hadtwo children of their own, told methis family secret when I was 15.This is how the story goes: I hadbeen sick as an infant. Mybiological parents had otherchildren to care for. My adoptiveparents volunteered to take care ofme on a temporary basis. At somepoint, it was agreed that I wouldbe better off with my aunt anduncle.

Since my biological and adop-tive mothers were sisters, ourfamilies spent a lot of timetogether. I didn’t know it at thetime, but the cousins I played withduring holidays actually were mybrothers and sisters.

As I got older, I wanted moredetails about the circumstancessurrounding my adoption.However, both parents brushed myquestions aside with “the past isin the past” answers. Eventually, Iwrote a letter to my “aunt” sayingI understood her decision. Iresigned myself to never knowingthe entire story.

I learned more about mybiological mother during thehourlong funeral than I had in 50years. Her grandchildren spokeabout the love showered on themand the happy times spent at herhome.

Others spoke about her sense ofhumor, which was evident whenher oldest son, Albert, recalledhow his mother had planned andpaid for her funeral five years ago:“She said, ‘I don’t want to have acar wash.’ ”

It took me and the others at thefuneral a minute to get the joke.She didn’t want her kids to have tohold a car wash for donations topay for funeral expenses.

While I initially struggled withmy decision to attend the funeral,ultimately, I couldn’t deny thatthis woman had given me atremendous gift.

Being adopted gave me anI’ll-show-them drive to succeed.My parents, while not rich, livedin a nicer neighborhood than thebarrio my biological siblingsknew as children. I would havemore opportunities, stability and,ultimately, a better education torise above poverty.

My father, Carlos, legallyadopted me when I was 17. Thebirth certificate that once readYvonne Briano reads Mary LouAguirre. My two siblings are DoraHernandez and Peter Aguirre.

I felt more emotion at thefuneral than I anticipated — notfor losing a mother, but forknowing I would never get thecomplete story about my adoption.There would be no Lifetime Movieclosure. No letter written long agoby my biological mother that Iwould receive upon her death.

Still, I know she had made ahard choice, and my life wasbetter for it.b The columnist can be reached atmaguirre@fresnobee.com or (559)441-6482.

By Melissa HeckscherLos Angeles Daily News

LOS ANGELES — The Grammy Awardsmay be known for outrageous clothes andquirky rock-star styles, but this year’sroster of nominees went for the moreclassic look — with f loor-length gowns,solid colors and basic blacks taking overthe Staples Center red carpet on Sundayafternoon.

Floor-length gowns trumped shortdresses. Beyoncé arrived in a light-bluestrapless gown with silver bodice; Fergielooked classic in a Calvin Klein lemon-yel-low strapless with asymmetrical hemline;Nelly Furtado was draped in electric blue;and Alicia Keys went for high fashion in aGiorgio Armani Privé navy high-neckhalter dress, with her hair styled up on topof her head.

Former “American Idol” FantasiaBarrino didn’t meet the challenge. Thenominee for Best R&B Vocal Performanceand Best Contemporary R&B Album wasone of the first artists to show up and waswearing a strapless black gown that was so

long that an assistant had to pick it up anddust it off before she faced photographers.

Gold jewelry, silver dresses and sequinswere popular among the women. Miley RayCyrus sparkled in a knee-length white-and-silver dress accented with a silver purseand shoes. Also in a knee-length dress wasRihanna, whose blue Zac Posen with a fullskirt was unfinished at the hem.

When it came to the men, the red carpetwas a sea of black-on-black suits andpenguin-style tuxedos. Rapper Akon wore ablack trenchcoat with a black fur collar anda black button-down shirt (as well as blackpants and shoes). Seal was all in white witha skinny black-and-white tie.

As for accessories for the men, it was allabout hats and glasses. Hard-core rockerSlash wore a black leather top hat thatmade him look a bit like a goth version ofWilly Wonka. And even though it wasn’tsunny under the Grammy’s chandelier-lined arrival tent, almost all of the malehip-hop stars, R&B artists, rockers andrappers wore shades.

Bling kings Paul Wall and Johnny “theJeweler” Dang showed up, each wearing$20,000 worth of diamonds fitted to theirteeth.

“These are 50th year anniversary grills,”Wall said, smiling to reveal sparking

See FASHION, Page E2

Valley restaurant rantsand raves: Post your ownat centralvalley.com.

By Don MayhewThe Fresno Bee

The phrase “think green” issupposed to stir ecologicallyfriendly mental images of cleanair, unpolluted streams and lushfoliage.

But for this country’s lovers of absinthe,the term has an entirely different mean-ing. The U.S. ban on the liquor, known bydevotees as the Green Fairy, has beenlifted after more than eight decades.

While it’s unlikely that the anise-f la-vored aperitif, which more than a centuryago in France rivaled wine in popularity,will ever again enjoy that kind of wide-spread acceptance, the people who drinkabsinthe display an extraordinary passionfor it.

That has as much to do with the loreand ceremony surrounding the drink asthe f lavor itself, which can be bitter andcomplex — a nice way of saying it’s oftenan acquired taste.

“It’s not particularly f lavorful,” saysKen Fugelsang, an enology professor atCalifornia State University, Fresno, whotouches on the distillation of absintheduring his wine production class. “It canbe very bitter.”

But what absinthe lacks in savorysweetness, it more than makes up for incultural cachet.

It was the choice of drink by many ofthe inf luential artists and writers of LaBelle Époque, among them Toulouse-Lau-trec and Paul Verlaine. It appeared in thepaintings of Edgar Degas and PabloPicasso. It’s said Van Gogh was driven tocut off his ear while under its inf luence.

Add to that the elaborate way absintheis traditionally served — either set afirewith a sugar cube or mixed with chilledwater poured over a sugar cube — andyou’ve got an intriguing drink.

“I just pulled up eBay,” Fugelsang says.“There were no fewer than 58 different

See ABSINTHE, Page E4

Green

Stars hit the fashion floorClassic, floor-length

numbers were preferredamong Grammy celebrities.

The

Fairy

PHOTOILLUSTRATIONBY DARRELLWONG AND BOBCAMPBELL/THEFRESNO BEE

Absinthe, famed drinkof bohemians that packs

a wallop, is back.

DARRELL WONG/THE FRESNO BEE

Sugar and water are mixed with Lucid, an ab-sinthe that has been approved for sale in thiscountry after a decades-old ban.

A tale onlyan adopteecould tell

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Grammy nominee and performer Beyon-cé was aglitter in a light-blue straplessgown with a silver bodice.

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES

Miley Ray Cyrus, top, optedfor a more casual look whileAkon, above, sported a blacktrenchcoat with fur collar.

50TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

Eco-therapysheds lighton exerciseGreen activity means

taking it outside.