May 31, 2013
Dear Everyone:
(Gloat, gloat, gloat.) I
must say, I really do like these seven-day weekends.
(Gloat…)
Retirement
is lovely. I recommend
everyone give it a try, at one point or another.
About a week ago, I heard a noise outside the bedroom window and looked
out to see a trio of large wild
turkeys poking among the bushes.
This area abounds with wild turkeys.
Sometimes they will parade through a parking lot like they own
the place; which, in their turkey minds, they do.
“Jeannie” even claims that one jumped up into her car one day, probably
looking for food.
The other day, I was walking back from the gym and found a hen, with her
brood of four fledglings, on the front lawn.
She was delighted with the “wild critter food” that I tossed out
on the lawn. The babies,
little balls of fluff staggering on (temporarily) overlong legs and
trying not to overbalance with their long necks, couldn’t quite handle
kernels of dried corn, but tried mightily to gulp up bits of grain.
Speaking of the gym, I am once again trying to get into a routine that
includes going across the street (I don’t even take my cane with me!)
and spending about five minutes each on the new
treadmill and stationary
bike. Of course, the whole
thing takes considerably longer than ten minutes.
First I toddle across the street with my “gym bag” in hand.
Then I pull the table fan out of the bag, along with its
electrical cord and extension cord.
The fan goes on the window sill, the cord plugs into the wall on
the other side of the treadmill, which requires climbing
behind the treadmill to reach
the wall.
Next up: Disinfecting wipes.
Honestly, you don’t know who has been using this equipment, do
you? So wipe down the
handles, buttons, etc. Take
the digital timer out of its dedicated pocket in the bag and position it
on the conveniently located tiny shelf in the control panel.
Turn on the fan and point it toward the walking space of the treadmill.
Clip the “safety line” to some part of your clothing.
The idea is, if you trip, stagger or otherwise lose your footing,
the line pulls a magnet away from the control panel and the treadmill
shuts down.
We are now ready to begin exercising.
Based on “Richard’s” suggestion, I set the incline to
ever-so-slightly up.
Apparently, this is better for your knees.
Since this is one part of my anatomy that is still (so far!) in
pretty good shape, I’d like to keep it that way.
Stand with your feet on the sides while the band gets moving (treadmill
etiquette) and reaches the default speed of 1 mile per hour (mph.)
Increase to 1.5 mph.
Stick the ear buds in your ears and start the
MP3 player to
music-of-choice. Start the
timer, which is set to 5 minutes.
Begin walking.
When the timer counts down a minute, increase the speed to a galloping 2
mph. When the timer goes
off, 4 minutes later, hit the Stop button.
Just to show that you’re a good community citizen, set the
incline back down to zero.
Reposition the fan to point at the stationary bike.
Make numerous adjustments.
Start cycling. Set
timer on again. Continuing
cycling and listening to music until the timer goes off again (another 5
minutes.)
Turn off fan, unplug from wall (climbing behind the treadmill once
again), pile everything back into the bag and trudge wearily home.
And once again encounter the Mother Hen and her baby turkeys.
Apparently, we’re on their regular route.
The trick to exercising is to do it early enough in the day that the sun
is not yet pouring through the picturesque upper window.
Any time before about 3:00 pm is good.
Retirement means having the time to exercise when you want to, and watch
baby turkeys.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |