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| We spotted this beautiful cove at the end of the boulevard in Trinity Beach. |
Tom says he never planned to include walking as a part of his retirement. What did he plan to do? Sit in a chair waiting to grow old for the anticipated eventuality? That’s what some retirees choose to do when health-wise when they could be more mobile.
Unfortunately, many seniors have health conditions, making mobility unlikely if not impossible and my heart breaks for them. Having the ability to freely move about has a tremendous bearing on our general good health and state of mind. We commend the many people we know and love who aren’t able to be mobile and yet maintain a positive attitude.
Sitting puts a fast end to our mobility and our mortality. The maximum amount of sitting I allow myself most days is during the time it takes for me to write and post here each day and to handle the necessary aspects of our travels online. For the remainder of the daylight hours, I try to stay on the move as much as possible.
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| A long stretch of unoccupied sandy beach. |
Although after dinner, during which we sit, we do gravitate toward the sofa to watch a recorded program or two on my laptop using the HDMI hooked to the flat-screen TV. I can’t imagine having the inclination to be running about the house each evening after dinner. After watching for two hours, we lay down in bed for seven or eight more hours.
Ouch! Writing this down makes me realize how much time we actually do spend not on our feet. Long ago, I read that standing and moving around once an hour is helpful which I desperately try to do. But, even then, it’s easy to get lost in the distraction of the moment while seated.
Harvard Medical School issued this report on the dangers of sitting for people of all ages including those in the workplace. Oh, that I recall sitting at a desk most of my working life, sitting in the car, sitting watching a movie.
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| This dome-type vacation rental reminded us of dome homes from decades ago. |
Aside from a large faction of the working population that busted their “you-know-whats” engaged in a career of hard working manual labor, most of us sat in a chair at work or spent the better part of each day gravitating back to a spot where there was a place to sit.
If we look back at early man/woman, they seldom sat, instead, spending most of their time on their feet working for shelter, warmth, safety, food, and water. Perhaps humans weren’t intended to sit other than around the fire at night for dining and warmth.
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| A lone explorer on the secluded beach. |
However, when we see animals in the wild most of them sit from time to time, to relax, nap, and scour their surroundings. So, let’s assume that sitting to some degree must be acceptable for the health and well-being of humans as well. As we’ve observed wildlife these past years of travel, we’ve seen that they are like us in many ways or…we’re like them. They were here before us.
After all, most of us have an adequate built-in cushion for sitting which seems to shrink as we age for some odd reason. Who knows? Maybe it shrinks as a reminder that we need to get up and move around instead of sitting in an attempt to maintain a certain degree of health and fitness.
I’m no expert. All I know is that when I’m active I feel better, my muscles move more freely, my sense of health and well-being escalates and my spirits rise beyond my usual “overly bubbly,” if that’s at all possible.
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| The beaches are seldom populated this time of year with the risk of stingers and crocs. |
Tom, on the other hand, loves sitting. He always says he spent enough time outside moving about in 20 degrees below zero to last a lifetime. I’m not so sure about that.
Yesterday, after two weeks of clouds and rain, we needed to walk some more, although in the past week we’ve done quite a bit of walking at beaches and parks in the area. But, being moderately active one day doesn’t necessarily carry over to the next day.
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| The Lime Tree restaurant in Trinity Beach is rated as #2 or 16 restaurants on TripAdvisor. Soon, we’ll make a reservation and give it a try. |
As much as I know Tom doesn’t like to go for walks, I suggested that we return to the local Smithfield Mall for a few items to supplement our grocery shopping of a few days ago. We needed to buy lettuce and coffee and, I wanted to try the low carb, sugar-free, goat’s milk yogurt I heard was readily available in the market (which, by the way, is fabulous!)
Instead of telling Tom, we should walk in the mall, he gladly agreed to take me to the store for the few grocery items and to stop at a vitamin store for some B1 which is known to help some against getting sandfly bites. (Oh, we won’t get into that. No complaining on my part over the 50 bites on my knees for which no natural non-DEET repellent works. Why they bit my knees, I’ll never know).
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| Kangaroos are accepted as a part of everyday life in Australia, not unlike our former reaction to squirrels and geese when we lived in Minnesota. |
To accomplish both of these tasks, it made sense to walk through the very long mall which when walking up and back requires a good 30 minutes of brisk walking. Tom brought along his phone with his Kindle books so he could “sit” while I meandered a few shops along the way.
Walking in our new neighborhood is unlikely. The hugely steep driveway is impossible to safely navigate on foot for anyone over 30 years old. It’s a knee injury waiting to happen.
Tom is highly adept at driving a stick shift with his left hand and yet he surprises me each time we go up and down as he easily maneuvers the underpowered little red car that chugs along especially going up the hill.
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| Even active kangaroos take time to sit in the shade when the sun peeked out for a few hours. |
The hill is so steep, I’d have hesitated to drive it even with an automatic transmission if I’d had to. (With no parking allowed on the street at the end of the driveway, we’ve had to drive to take walks, which we’ve done each day this week).
“Good on you, Tom Lyman,” I say, using a common Australian expression that we hear everywhere we go, which apparently means “good for you!” Easily, I could repeat this adorable expression for his willingness to walk with me as we wander about the world, attempting to get off our butts as often as possible, hopefully lengthening our time on this planet with a certain level of good health and fitness.
Photo from one year ago today, June 25, 2014:
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| This worm on the organic lettuce in Madeira, Portugal practically picked up his head to look at me before I tossed the leaf over the veranda into the vegetation below. For more details, please click here. |