by Pa Rock
Road Hazard
The next time you're barreling down one of this quiet country lanes with the radio blasting and come across the little old man climbing out of a ditch proudly holding the Budweiser can that you threw away the evening before, slow down and show some respect. It might be me!
Last fall I had a streak of more than sixty days in which I put 10,000 or more steps on the old pedometer - and times were good. My weight stayed in check and my blood sugar stayed at a decent level. With winter, however, that all changed for the worse. My daily steps decreased to around 5,000-6000 each day and the weight and blood sugars began rising. My old bones just don't enjoy creaking along in inclement weather.
But now things are warming up and I am back out pounding the pavement. For the past ten days I have managed to do more than 10,000 steps per day - with a couple of days over 11,000 - and yesterday I ended the day with 12,607!
Yesterday was particularly grueling. I put about 5,000 steps on the pedometer just puttering around the house and doing a few outdoor chores in the morning, and then in the afternoon I had to ride the mower for two hours - an activity that doesn't add anything to my step count. When I finished mowing at around 3:30 p.m. I set out walking toward the park in an effort to get back on track toward the daily goal.
I didn't intend to go all the way to the park - a distance of about a mile or 2,000 steps one-way - because I was already tired out from bouncing around on the mower for a couple of hours, but as I walked along I just kept going. I not only reached the park, but even walked one of the several trails while I was there. I wasn't until I finally turned for home that I realized how really tired I was. By the time I finally dragged myself back to my freshly mowed yard I had added 6,000 steps (three miles) to the pedometer! And I still hadn't put the chickens up or fed the cats - and the big half of the yard was still waiting to be mowed on the morrow!
My blood sugar was a shockingly low 65 - and the following morning my weight was down by a full pound.
But all of that health stuff is just part of the good news. I carry a plastic bag as I walk, and I pay myself for walking by picking up (and smashing) aluminum cans as I walk. (In the last four days alone I have bagged sixty-six cans.) I have been saving aluminum cans since moving to the farm in 2014, and now I have bags of them stacked in the barn and garage. Some day I will cash them all in and be rich - rich, I tell you - rich!
Either that, or I will fall down dead in a ditch somewhere - or get run over by a drunk as he swerves to throw out his beer can - and my kids will have a really big party!
But for now I walk - and pick up a few cans - and try to stay ahead of the Grim Reaper!
Road Hazard
The next time you're barreling down one of this quiet country lanes with the radio blasting and come across the little old man climbing out of a ditch proudly holding the Budweiser can that you threw away the evening before, slow down and show some respect. It might be me!
Last fall I had a streak of more than sixty days in which I put 10,000 or more steps on the old pedometer - and times were good. My weight stayed in check and my blood sugar stayed at a decent level. With winter, however, that all changed for the worse. My daily steps decreased to around 5,000-6000 each day and the weight and blood sugars began rising. My old bones just don't enjoy creaking along in inclement weather.
But now things are warming up and I am back out pounding the pavement. For the past ten days I have managed to do more than 10,000 steps per day - with a couple of days over 11,000 - and yesterday I ended the day with 12,607!
Yesterday was particularly grueling. I put about 5,000 steps on the pedometer just puttering around the house and doing a few outdoor chores in the morning, and then in the afternoon I had to ride the mower for two hours - an activity that doesn't add anything to my step count. When I finished mowing at around 3:30 p.m. I set out walking toward the park in an effort to get back on track toward the daily goal.
I didn't intend to go all the way to the park - a distance of about a mile or 2,000 steps one-way - because I was already tired out from bouncing around on the mower for a couple of hours, but as I walked along I just kept going. I not only reached the park, but even walked one of the several trails while I was there. I wasn't until I finally turned for home that I realized how really tired I was. By the time I finally dragged myself back to my freshly mowed yard I had added 6,000 steps (three miles) to the pedometer! And I still hadn't put the chickens up or fed the cats - and the big half of the yard was still waiting to be mowed on the morrow!
My blood sugar was a shockingly low 65 - and the following morning my weight was down by a full pound.
But all of that health stuff is just part of the good news. I carry a plastic bag as I walk, and I pay myself for walking by picking up (and smashing) aluminum cans as I walk. (In the last four days alone I have bagged sixty-six cans.) I have been saving aluminum cans since moving to the farm in 2014, and now I have bags of them stacked in the barn and garage. Some day I will cash them all in and be rich - rich, I tell you - rich!
Either that, or I will fall down dead in a ditch somewhere - or get run over by a drunk as he swerves to throw out his beer can - and my kids will have a really big party!
But for now I walk - and pick up a few cans - and try to stay ahead of the Grim Reaper!
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