It’s that time of year when resolutions start falling by the wayside. Of course, one of the most common resolutions is to lose weight/get in shape. So I’ve been thinking about my own workout regimen.
Okay, I don’t have one.
But there’s a reason for that! I grew up a WV farm girl. The idea of doing an activity just to stay fit was a foreign concept. When I was sixteen I weighed 117 pounds and I had some muscles. I won’t tell you what I weigh now, but it’s more than that. And I’m not any taller.
Growing up on a mountain farm we didn’t go to a gym. In the house we cooked, cleaned, and hung laundry on the line (denim is HEAVY). Outside we worked in the garden, the hayfield, and with the animals. We toted, tossed, heaved, walked (shoot, the mailbox was a hike!) and ran if we had to.
For fun we swam, played yard games, built hay forts in the barn, climbed trees, and explored even if the place we were exploring was well-known. Oh, and digging came up more than you’d think.
We didn’t have computers. There were three channels and watching them was a big deal. No video games, no cell phones . . .
Which is why it’s kind of hard for me to exercise if I’m not doing some sort of work at the same time. So I mostly hike. As long as I’m taking Thistle with me, I’m caring for the livestock. Sometimes I take clippers so I can maintain the trails. It’s an extra bonus if I can, say, move some fallen branches or use a stick to dig out drainage where water has puddled. Plus, it hearkens back to those days spent exploring.
Now, if I could just see yard work in the same light . . .