Happy New Year

Here we go again.  Another new year is upon us.  This is always a rather melancholy time of year for me.  I know I'm not alone in this feeling, though.  Many people feel a bit down during and after the holiday hustle and bustle.  Carl was off of work for a week and a half and we had such a nice time together that this morning things felt a bit empty around here.

I decided to try turning over a new leaf this morning.  Though I walk as much as I can around the farm and down the road, winter is making an appearance finally.  We now have about two inches of snow on the ground.  I won't be able to do much walking off-road once the next snowstorm hits.  Normally in the winter, I cross-country ski.  But, it is also customary that I take at least one or two tumbles a winter when I'm on skis.  (Just call me Grace.)    I'm not looking forward to falling on my dented derriere again, so I'm thinking the skis will have to wait until next year.  Once the snow gets a little deeper, I will get out my snowshoes, which is fun, too, but I prefer skiing.  The thought of a gym membership has never appealed to me, not even when I was slimmer.  I prefer to look ridiculous in private.

I have never invested in exercise equipment.  I don't have enough room in this house for a treadmill.  I know a few people who owned one, and it ended up being a clothes hanger.  That's all I need, a big ol' place to toss coats on.  NOT.  I had thought about getting a Wii Fit when they first came out, but so many people told me it wasn't worth the money and it would end up sitting in the corner (or the cabinet, or wherever you store exercise equipment). I thought it looked like great fun, but I guess it gets old after awhile?

And, to tell you the truth, running on a treadmill seems silly; like a waste of time and energy.  Being an old farm kid, I never had to worry about not getting enough exercise.  Exercise opportunities and work go hand in hand  on a farm.  You're always walking or running somewhere, pitching something, hoisting buckets and bales and climbing ladders to get to the haymow.

Ann and I often talked about how much of a shame it is that all the work on a weight-lifting machine or treadmill or aerobics class couldn't be put to good use.  In other words, it would be so much better if you could get something productive done while you exercise.  Maybe I should see if I could generate electricity for the house.  Carl should be able to rig up some sort of a Rube Goldberg invention that would make all the energy output useful. 

In years past, Carl and I would saw down some trees during the winter which is a great workout, running my little chainsaw, piling up brush, loading the wood.  Makes you feel alive.  I love the fresh air.  But we haven't had any trees to take down for awhile now and the only other work is Castle Aaargh which needs warmer weather because right now the rocks are frozen down to the ground.  I do have some dead branches to clear out of the white pines in the Back Eight, though, as long as the snow doesn't get too deep.  So there IS something I could be doing.

I do try to make my walks count.  My mother lives a little less than a half mile away, so I take the opportunity to stop in and see her almost every time I go for a walk.  That way, I'm checking in on her and seeing how she's doing and we have a nice visit.  Of course, the dogs, Teddy and Pudding,  are guests of honor at Grandma's house and have special  pillows they gravely wait to have laid down for them on their perch by her big kitchen window.  They know the drill so well that if I try to walk by without stopping, I have two seriously confused dogs on my hands.  We have to stop and see Grandma.  It's a tradition.


  So, I rented a walking exercise video on New Year's Day and am attempting to sweat myself into better shape.  Heaven knows the shape I'm in right now isn't a good one.  Actually, I am counting my blessings because after my little trip down the stairs things could have been much worse, so I am grateful I'm still walking. I could be in a body cast.  But after taking a hard look at the old pictures of the way I was and now viewing the way I am, well, I'm a lot overwhelmed.  How's that saying go?  Every journey starts with a single step or something like that?  Well, I've gotta a whole lot of steps in front of me.  Staying motivated is always the hardest part.


After renting the video, I was intrigued; I wondered if there were other ones out there that are fun, too.  The walking one is really a lot more intense than I thought it would be, but I have to take it back on Friday.    I took a completely out-of-the-box step yesterday afternoon and ordered a dance exercise video online. We'll see how this goes when it arrives.  (I didn't even tell Carl I did this.)  I figure a DVD is a lot smaller to store in a closet than a treadmill or an elliptical thing.

Not that it will end up in the closet.

I'm going to dance myself fit.

Or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

Wish me luck.