Getting in Shape for Gardening, and other Good Reasons.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

Recently I read a "Maxine" card where this tough old lady quipped, that she felt, "a good figure is when everything droops at the same rate". After reading the card, I looked down and realized my standards for being in shape had drooped drastically over the last few years and it really was time to do something about it.

So, with a couple of friends encouraging me, I enrolled in a "Fitness Two" class in my community. "Fitness One" was at an awkward time, but I figured I could adapt to the challenges of a more advanced class, and signed right up.  I live in a 55 and up community and although I have a couple of years before I arrive at that magical age (I married up), I am constantly finding out not to underestimate the strength, endurance and flexibility of the "mature" woman.  Case in point, my new class.  

My teacher  is a gorgeous woman with an enviable figure that hasn't even thought about drooping in anyway.  Her hair is puffed and perfect before and after class.  Her make-up is impeccable and I've never seen her look anything but happy and sweat free. Besides having no traceable body fat, she has no lines on her face or even age spots (my nemesis), and brace yourself...she has a daughter my age!  

Our class consists of an hour of aerobics that include weights, stretch bands, balls, and yoga mats.  I consider the weights wonderful training for lifting heavy bags of manure and compost, and I lift those little four pound dumbbells with anticipation and fervor as I imagine them to be 50 pounds of manure  that I'm hoisting with ease and agility come spring. However, there are some moves we do in class that will only be utilized in the garden for special circumstances. Such as the move below that is probably used while weeding and one that I like to call, "Good grief that's a snake"!

The teacher executes the above pose by holding her insteps, then while keeping her knees straight, she smiles and talks about what she did over the weekend. I have a wonderful base for this (read wide bottom), but can't seem to get my legs straight even while holding my knees.  Once I make my bold two-leg-up effort, I invariably end up rolling backward with my legs in the air. I keep telling myself that I need to practice this move at home so I will be able to stay upright, but since it isn't a pose I usually incorporate into my day, I keep forgetting.

Another special circumstances pose we do is one that is obviously used to fake out pill bugs when wanting to sneak up on them. I'm assuming, if done correctly, one would be able to lull them into a false sense of security by having them think a long-lost giant family member was just curled up for a snooze while in town.  Then, when you have them totally convinced, you uncurl yourself, jump to your feet and stomp their little guts out.  Here is the pose done by our teacher and myself.

The correct method to accomplish this move is to lie down with your legs straight.  Then, oh so slowly with legs together, you bring your legs over your head and rest your feet on the mat above your head, its just that simple.  I have had some issues with this move.  The first issue is that I have a round tummy that works as a barrier that precludes the possibility of my legs moving any further than straight up in the air.  I have tried unsuccessfully to lift my bottom/hips with my hands in hope of propelling my legs forward and moving beyond my 90 degree angle.  However, I have found I am not yet strong enough to lift or even budge this problem area, so I end up looking around and marveling at about 24 mature pill bugs curled up with their feet above their head and ready to spring into action. A thing of beauty.

In some poses, the teacher works with our breathing.  On my first day of class while lying on my back with my legs up and trying to get my head to my knees, I thought her instruction to "let out all our air", was an inspired and wonderful idea, however she apparently needed to be more specific. I'm working on that one too.

The aerobic portion of our class is like tap dancing, meets, disco, meets, boxing.  I am glued to the teacher's moves, and try with everything in me to mirror what she is doing.  I have found that if I am thinking of anything else at all, I will end of shuffling around trying to keep up. So, I watch, and make approximations of the moves in hopes of actually closing in on all the steps some wonderful day.

I sweat so much during my class that my pony tail drips and my shirt sticks to me.  I bring a washcloth to blot the sweat, but I learned its important to bring a colored one since the little "vanity" make-up I apply before class is usually around my chin after the first twenty minutes.  I thought if I just applied a little foundation, and a touch of waterproof mascara to my top eyelashes...and lipstick, I could get through the class with some dignity intact.  However, waterproof mascara is not sweat proof and I usually look like a prize fighter at the end. 

After class all the ladies grab a cup of coffee and we sit around and gab for about an hour. This little ritual has become as important and beneficial to me as the exercise class. I have lived in our development for four years now and I'm meeting these women for the first time.  It is a joy to hear about their lives and as I do, I feel my life getting larger, and some of the heaviness of this last year already seems lighter. My body has a very long way to go, but I know it will wake up eventually and rise to the occasion.  We weren't meant to soldier through our lives without camaraderie and our bodies need to be strong to meet the demands of our lives. I'm finally paying attention to these areas, and I'm excited for the changes.

The picture below was taken in Kauai in 2004 and I was a year into the beginning of my "droop" period.  I'm using it as my phase one inspiration photo.

My Beloved and I Visit Seattle

One day my beloved said to me, "How beautiful you are, my darling!" "Oh, how beautiful!" "Your eyes are like doves." I answered of course, "How handsome you are my lover!" "Oh, how charming!" "Take me away with you!"

NOT! These are actually thought to be the ardent words of King Solomon in Song of Songs 1:4,15-16. For those who haven't read this smoking book in the Bible it a guaranteed page turner for you and your spouse as part of your Valentine's celebration.   Some passages make me blush and some, such as, "Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead, and your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing." (Chapter 4:1-2), just make me laugh!

However, my beloved did take me away, and we spent a glorious day in Seattle where we sampled and savored culture with wild abandon! We arrived downtown in late morning and drove directly to the Seattle Art Museum.

I hadn't been to the art museum in years and although we missed seeing the Picasso exhibit by a few days, we thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely visit in our perspective ways.  I had never been to a museum with my husband, but I smiled knowingly as I watched his method of enjoying the exhibits unfold.  As an engineer he was in his element, starting at the top right side of the museum and moving around each room in a clockwise pattern. He read every information placard under every exhibit, then proceeded to the next closest room. Don moved through the museum in a serpentine fashion so as not to waste any extra steps or incur the need to double back and return to any room to get to another. 

Don would look up and not find me, because I was enjoying the museum in my attention deficit-pin-ball method.  I would enter a room, stand in the middle and then move towards only the exhibits that I found inspiring or interesting. In my mind there was a loose desire to work in a methodical fashion, but I kept seeing tantalizing exhibits from various vantage points and was drawn to them like a magnet.  I saw some of the rooms many times as I entered and exited them to get to others. Of course my method took far less time than that of my husband's, so I lapped him several times and ended up looking at many other exhibits that hadn't made the first cut the last time I was in the room. It is no wonder that the painting below was one of my favorites, its random wave-like patterns just thrilled me!

I'm so thankful that Don and I can appreciate that we enjoy our world in different ways, and can give each other the unspoken permission to experience the museum in the way that feels most comfortable to each.  Here is my husband enjoying one of his favorite exhibits:

After we had luxuriated in the creative outpouring of renown artists, we walked down the street for a delightful seafood lunch at McCormick and Schmicks, yum! We were given a great table right by the window looking onto the street.  Don had a huge piece of tilapia and I had salmon hash with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. I had never had poached eggs before and found them surprisingly scrumptious! Of course, the presence of hollandaise sauce on any food means good times.

With our stomachs full and excitement mounting we drove to our final destination, Benaroya Hall, where the Seattle Symphony was playing with the featured artist, Itzhak Perlman.

Izhtak Perlman was born in Israel in 1945.  He suffered polio as a child, but his musical gift propelled him to international acclaim. He studied first at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, then studied in the United States at The Jullilard School.  He won the pretigious Leventritt Competition in 1964 and has played with every major orchestra all over the world.  Mr. Perlam was honored to take part in the inauguration of President Barak Obama and has received numerous awards including the Metal of Liberty and a National Metal of Arts. 

Mr. Perlman entered with an assistive device on each arm and moved his legs in a swinging fashion in a labored almost painful manner. Tears struck my eyes as I saw what an effort it was for him to get to and step up on the podium.  When he sat, he put his assistive devices down, stuck one leg out then reached for his violin, put it under his chin then nodded to the conductor that he was ready.

Late afternoon melted into melodious night as we sat infused with the brilliance of this gifted violinist.  At times his music seemed to echo the beautiful notes of a songbird (my highest praise) and I sat in rapture as we listened to Moldau, No 2, and Felix Menddelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, from the most gifted violinist in the world. He was given several standing ovations and he laborously walked from back stage each time to bow to the audiance yet again.

God has knit us together with a need for music. From the swaying youthful hips of my two year old granddaughter, to David as he played the harp for King Saul to ease his troubled mind. Music can be used for celebration and praise, as well as an instrumentation of expressing pain, beauty and joy.  Our hearts and minds untangle within us as we listen to music and we are changed.

My beloved and I went to Seattle.  We studied art that showed glimmers of who people were, what moved their hearts, and celebrated their creativity.  We ate and filled our stomachs with good food, and we listened to amazing music that took our hearts to places we had never been before. We are thankful.

Psalm 9:1-2: I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.