In the past year I’ve had many friends and acquaintances suffer from leg cuts that took forever to heal. The reason for this apparently involves poor circulation; the blood isn’t moving through the legs properly and the cut isn’t being cleansed. This impacts people with diabetes more dramatically than it does the rest of us; but non-diabetics can suffer from poor circulation, too. Talk to a doctor if you think your blood might not be circulating properly. Some clues that might lead you to ask the question can include cold feet and hands; and a sensation of heaviness or fatigue in your limbs. Some people with poor circulation also feel pain in their legs while they’re exercising. Obviously, this column is not meant to be used as a tool for diagnosis and treatment. What we’re offering here is a few simple exercises that can improve circulation in your legs, which can also give a boost to the rest of your circulatory system. The short and simple explanation for why exercise is helpful is that blood tends to stagnate in your feet and lower legs (especially your calves). Your heart has to work harder to bring it upward through the rest of your body; and the blood tends to pool in your lower legs.Most of the exercises recommended on the Internet are super simple, and can be done as easily at your desk as they can be done in a gym. Calf raises: Millerton’s North East Athletic Center has two machines that are designed to aid you with calf raises. If you need help finding them or figuring them out, talk to gym owner Marc Miles or any of the friendly fitness staff. You can also do these while standing on the lowest step in a staircase. Step onto the tread; let the back of your foot hang off. Raise yourself slowly on your toes and then lower yourself so your heels descend below the stair tread. Keep doing this as long as you can, up to 30 or 50 repetitions (the first few times, 20 repetitons will probably seem like a lot). Walking: The weather is improving and the giant snowbanks on the roadsides are pretty much all gone. Go out for a long walk. It’s one of the best ways to improve circulation in your legs. Better still is a walk uphill. The bending of your calf muscles forces the blood up and out of your legs. Walking on tiptoe apparently also boosts your circulation. Try doing it as you walk around the house. Do it while you dust. You’ll reach some spots you might have missed and it can make a tiresome chore seem modestly entertaining. If you’re really looking for ways to alleviate boredom, walk around the house on your heels. (Try not to sprain an ankle while you’re at it.)If it’s still a little cold for you out there, use a treadmill at the gym and put it up at an angle for at least a part of your session. Leg circles: Rotating your feet is supposed to help move the blood around; they also give you a nice simple stretch (often, the simplest stretches feel absolutely sublime). You can do this while sitting in a chair, or while lying on the floor on your back. Stretch out your legs (a little more difficult if you’re in a chair; just lift them as high as you can, which might not be very high). Point your toes. Make circles. You can do itty bitty ones, and increase to larger, more swooping rotations. Do 10 if you can. Do more if you can. Change directions. Give yourself a rest, and then flex your foot and make circles with your heels.There are many other stretches that can get the blood moving in your lower legs. If you like yoga or Pilates, ask your instructor to share some tips. And always give your legs a chance to rest after a workout. One of the best stretches for circulation is to lie with your back on the floor and your legs up against a wall. It feels kind of great and it forces the blood back up toward your heart (if you lie like this too long, some of that blood is going to go to your brain and make you feel lightheaded, so be careful). Depending on how flexible you are, you might want to put a pillow under your hips for support.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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