Respite

Just another nice summer day. The smoke blew away.  The temperature lowered at least for the day about 10 degrees.  This afternoon eldest son and I went down to our favorite 24 hour gym and joined up again.  The 100+ degree weather doesn't inspire me to walk up the lovely path down Mill Creek or anywhere else. He goes after work and before dinner.

I used to go to the gym at one of the two hospitals in a pulmonary rehab program. The other hospital closed down this spring and the reshuffling of staffs and equipment flooded those kind of programs with many, many clients.  Those of us who are in better shape have to find an alternative for now. I've tried exercising at home but it just doesn't really work for me.  I seem to have a some discipline inside a gym that I can't muster at home.

I plan on going early in the morning or in the heat of the day. I'll start out walking on the treadmill.  It will help condition my legs which will be good for my cranky lungs. Right now I really don't walk anywhere. Moving on the treadmill for me produces a kind of a zen frame of mind. It may be the answer to a lot of the annoying, stressful news we have these days. Years ago I took some meditation classes and couldn't quite get the hang of it until my mentor taught me a walking manta that is taught to active children. Just the thing; I was one of those kids that couldn't sit still in class.  I use it in the gym. My mind clears out and I stop worrying and thinking and just move. The treadmills look out a large winow at a grassy bank which is home to some red foxes. At the right time of year you can see the fox pups venturing out and acting like my toddlers did only in a foxy way. If there are no foxes that little hill blocks off the view of town and just shows me grass and sky and sometimes circling hawks. If I wake up at the crack of dawn again tomorrow I'll go early. It will be a slow start, 10 minutes on the treadmill and then 10 minutes of some light weights for the first week.  I'm actually excited about it.