Dog FOOD and Exercise

How would you feel if you carried around four 20-pound bags of dog food all day? DOG TIRED! 2 years ago, I used to weigh 80 pounds more and that’s how I felt. Run down. Exhausted.

Now I feel marvelous. Did I take a quick-fix pill or follow a fad diet? No, I just ate less and exercised more. That’s the only thing that really works.

Now that Beth is off to England, I’m getting back to business. I have 30 more pounds to go. It’s time to get busy.

I’m tweaking my exercise routine.

-- Monday and Wednesday, I’m on the treadmill.
-- Tuesday and Thursday, I take Pilate’s. It’s not as tough as last fall. I’m improving … slowly. When we’re on the mats, I can even touch my feet to the floor above my head. Not bad for 55.
-- Then (weather permitting), I’m walking 4 miles a day on Saturday and Sunday.
-- I get Fridays off. (I LOVE FRIDAYS!)

I want to push myself further on the treadmill.
First 5 minutes … 15% incline … 3.7 mph
Second 5 minutes … 15% incline … 3.8 mph
Third 5 minutes … 14% incline … 3.9 mph
Fourth 5 minutes … 14% incline … 4 mph
Fifth minutes … 13% incline … 4.1 mph
Last 5 minutes … 13% incline … 4.2 mph

Not bad for someone who used to be ready to die at 3 mph on the flat.


Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Harvest: FALL on the FARM




The walls are down and the fields are naked.


Seasonal change in a rural area is more than summer, winter spring and fall. It’s planting, growth and harvest. In April, littered stalks are swept clean and plowed earth provides a fresh black floor. It’s a blank canvas waiting for the coming crop. In May, a green fuzz hovers over the fields and soon the rows are easy to distinguish. “Knee high by the Fourth of July” is outdated. Now, it’s waist high or better. As summer progresses, green walls rise, I have to stop at intersections where for 9 months a year, I can see cars a ½ mile away. Green turns to brown in late August. In late September, the walls come down and the fields undress for their winter nap.


This year, we had a wet, cool spring. Planters got stuck in the mud and the crop was planted late. Consequently, harvest is several weeks behind. This morning when I left the house, my neighbors were in the field. When I’ll come home, it will be empty. I’ll be able to see headlights on a road 2 miles away.

No comments: