Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Dec 13, 2008, at 6:48 AM, Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:

> > And the only exercise I ever do is what we would call homestead work.
>
> Do you go from a winter of mostly sitting around to digging gardens?

Yes, winters are mostly reading and writing. The only real exercise I  
get is taking long desert hikes with Benny. I do have a chin-up bar at  
each home. I find that hanging keeps my back happy. Right now I am  
doing only three pull-ups at a time but I work up to five. The hanging  
is more important because it keeps the vertebrae in line and stretched  
out so the cushions stay healthy.

When I get to Heartwood in the spring I do feel pains and strains from  
overwork, so those are signals to build up to a full routine gradually.

The most fit I have been in years was at the end of the 2007 summer. I  
ran over a thousand feet of water lines. The last task on that project  
was hand picking all the stones that would hurt the mower. I did  
several weeks of bending over and grabbing stones and tossing them  
into a cart. Took a few days to get the back accustomed to that.  
Looking back on it, that is one fine exercise. As stone masonry is one  
of the things I like to do, and I have several projects designed on  
the computer, I look forward to many years of fitness.

Each body is different. Each mind is unique. Find the things you love  
to do that require both brain power and body power and focus on doing  
them; you will be happy and healthy, both mind and body.