"First Be a Good Animal"

And yet another example of poor parking. I cannot negotiate a parking space for the life of me. At least it keeps the grandsons entertained. Good thing parallel parking was not on the driving skills test. I would have been a regular on the bus route all these years. Driving Dave's former cars is difficult because Large Dave likes Large Vehicles. I have been a small person all my life and I was most comfortable in my little Chevette.

So, anyway . . . oh wait, you need to see my great bumper sticker. Special ordered it from one of those hippie websites that have stickers, t-shirts and magnets that say "Jesus was a Liberal" or "Fix the Economy - Legalize Marijuana." I get a couple of those catalogues and if there's a problem with an order I get a hand-written note of explanation signed by someone named Daniel or Moonshine. Now this is a trucker for those who do not immediately recognize and I wanted to point this out because as I was getting out of my car the recycle guy was at my door and he said, "I want to meet that girl. Do you know where she lives?" I turned around not knowing what he was referring to and when I asked he pointed to my bumper sticker. That's not a girl, I said. He was chagrined and me even more so. Truckers frequently have the silver naked Barbie doll silhouettes on their tire shields and so this is my response to those rednecks. I ran into a woman at Hyvee who had seen my car somewhere else and had taken a picture of the thing to show her daughter. A few men have laughingly commented on it as well .

Anyway, this is the Chevy at the flood wall for an early morning walk. Just a few fellow athletes on the wall in various forms of exercise. Yes, I have become one of those annoying power walkers. Cowboy Dave and used to laugh at them and now I have become the butt of someone else's jokes. That makes me almost as laughable as a mall walker, almost. But I have found my body prefers the higher speed as when I go slower I feel sluggish as if I am wading through thick mud. The churning arm movements give me some upper body involvement and I can feel the abs engage as my arms go higher. So, there is a reason for the comedic but we do look strange, don't we?

As the city pools have closed I needed to bump up my exercise regime again. The power walking gives me that edge as compared to a milder walk. I favor my legs when I swim as I let my upper torso do all the work - arms and shoulders get the brunt of the exercise. In the cooler months the reverse happens as I add an hour walk along with the exercise DVDs. I can feel the upper thigh muscle on the top of my leg complaining as I churn around the corner and it will be ignored.

When the ice covers the pathway and the wind tries to blow this little old lady over I will probably buy a short membership at the local Y. I have never been a joiner and I shy away from collections of people. Anyway, I just came to use the pool, boys, and I won't even be tempted to use the hot tub, that innocently enough looking pit of teeming bacteria. Treadmills and its cousins are always a last choice for me and used mainly when I am stuck in a motel that has no large pool or outdoor walking path. They are as boring as waiting for my fluoride treatment to take and I always try and balance a book when forced to use that contraption.

"First be a good animal," Emerson wrote. And we are, those of us who rearrange our day to accommodate exercise. The sweat in the eyes and the burn in the muscles is secondary to us. It is to be expected, it is to be conquered, it is a necessity. We want that second wind, that transition into a peaceful floating state, a nirvana that our bodies go naturally into. It can only happen after a period of intense, repetitive movement and heavy breathing and when we close that gap and cross over our bodies are oblivious to what came before. We only feel lightness and a clarity of thought and motion and we want and will have more.