The Walk

I recently spent a week in a warm, sunny clime visiting my granddaughters. The weather is so pleasant there and, oh, so different than where I live (southwest shore of Lake Ontario). Where I live it's still winter. Spring may or may not arrive on or about the end of April. Then you'll see daffodils, tulips, lilacs and all the flowering trees bursting into bloom. But where the granddaughters live, sunny, balmy, blue skies most of the time and never, never any snow.

So little 4 year old and I took a walk one day while her sisters were in school. We walked to the grocery store to purchase supplies so grammy (me) would have materials to make dinner. These are some things we saw on our way.

                                        A Pond

There were two turtles on this pipe with the blue heron but they dove in when they heard us. I wonder if this is the blue heron that made off with the goldfish in my backyard pond.

                       She loved seeing her shadow in the bright sunshine.

Split leaf philodendrem and mother-in-laws tongue grow naturally and heartily outdoors. You'll see them in the landscape plantings around the neighborhood.


Where I live, we keep these tropicals in clay pots INDOORS and they never look as happy as they look in these pics taken in the south.

        She "rescued" a hibiscus from a roadside planting and made like Dorothy Lamour

This beautiful tile mosaic scene is on the wall outside of the grocery store. It was a lovely walk. She got her free cookie at the bakery department, grammy got her dinner fixins' and we made out way back home.

Exercise - My Least Favorite Thing To Do

Another one of those unpalatable New Year's resolutions. I'm trying to live a more healthy lifestyle. Eating lots of vegetables and fruits, as little processed foods as possible. I'm interested in dropping a few pounds too because I am not at a heart healthy weight. Exercise is the catalyst that brings all these efforts together.

But, I haaaaate exercising. I have a stationary bike in my bedroom that makes a lovely hat rack. It is the most uncomfortable thing in the world to sit on. I even bought a new gel filled seat that doesn't make it any more comfortable. And I don't think my knees like all that pedaling very much either. It's facing the TV so I can zone out while riding but I keep looking at the clock to see if it's time to get off the torture seat.

I do like to walk, though. I understand walking is a very beneficial work out. At the moment, this is what the weather looks like where I live.

            So I won't be doing any outdoor walking until around end of April.

I have, however, devised a plan. I'll walk indoors and take my mind off the distasteful chore by giving myself some "eye candy". Purposefully walking the mall is painless. I don't even know I'm working out. My imagination is busy taking in all the storefronts. After my workout, I can stop and rest on a comfy sofa or chair with a grande' latte' and people watch or read or even knit. This does count as "exercise" even though it's painless.

I have discovered another great place to walk-work-out and I go there often anyway. The supermarket is a great work out venue. Our local ones are huge.

I don't just run in and get what's on my list and run out. I intentionally walk up and down each and every aisle in the supermarket, I'll walk all around the perimeter. If I do spy something on a shelf that I want, I will stop and put it in my cart but I walk many aisles where I know I am not interested in the merchandise. But groceries are not my primary purpose, burning calories is, getting my heart rate up, warming and stretching my muscles, is: the purpose. Once again, eye candy. I'm distracted by the merchandising and not really annoyed by the fact that I'm working out.    

Here is where I worked out today:

This guy just happened to be outside the store. I had my camera with me and asked the officer if I could take his picture. The horse looked right at the camera and smiled for me.

Another venue where I took advantage of the shear size of the indoor track was Hobby Lobby on Saturday. Intentionally, whether or not I was interested in what that aisle held, I walked up and down each and every aisle in the store and around the entire perimeter.

I have never had a good, reliable pedometer. They always go kaflooey on me. But I do think a purposeful walk around one of these stores is at least half a mile. I know the mall is a mile. They have it posted there. Many "exercisers" walk the mall in the early morning before the stores open for the day. The mall opens specifically for this purpose. That's too early for me though. I don't mind dodging crowds.

Another bonus or "plus" to this type of work out is you get to throw all your stuff in a cart and walk around leaning on it. So winter coats, even boots and heavy purses do not weigh you down. You're free to exercise unencumbered.