Saturday, January 9, 2010

SOLVING MULTIPLE PROBLEMS

Here are the problems:

- I need more exercise. I have lost a few pounds, but my body has cleverly compensated for the lower of caloric intake by clinging on to every fat cell available, claiming a close personal friendship of some twenty some years. And unless I force up my metabolism to pick up in some way, I don't think anything else is gonna come off.

- I also have two horses who both seriously need more exercise. However, the mare (Sally) is an very slow walker (she is in her mid-20's, which for a horse is seriously old), and the gelding (Najale) strides out at a fast enough pace that I need to occasionally jog to keep up with him. And I cannot take just one of them out - the mare literally freaks out if seperated from her baby.

- I optimistically purchased a Wal-Mart on-sale (read that as  'cheap') bicycle, with the concept being of riding it to the mailbox (a mile and a half down the road) and back as a work-out. My only requirement was some form of mountain-bike tires - while I live on what is officially called a dirt road, it is actually 25% dirt, 13% small rocks, 46% middle-size rocks and 16% large boulders that can easily blow out a tire on a semi. Transportation of these back-roads involves constant veering around rocks, easing through gullies and ridges, and praying that whatever sort of wheel you are riding on can survive at least one more day.


Today, I discovered a marvelous and also quite ridiculous solution to all three of these problems.

I rode the bicycle for about twenty minutes in the pasture, both chasing and being chased by the horses. It was great exercise for all three of us.


And I did leave a note inside the house that if I did not come back within 45 minutes, they should search for my body out back.

It was ridiculously fun, extremely undignified, and just what I needed today.

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