Spring is a true reconstructionist.
~ Henry Timrod
And if it's true, what Henry said, then we should all be in the reconstructing mood, right?
Well, I am, and I can only speak for myself. 'Cause it's spring!
The garden shed, doorless though it is, has been swept clean and now shelters boxes of newspapers to put between the rows of my garden. Newspapers will rot right back into the soil and will (I hope) reduce the number of weeds I have to deal with later in the gardening season, when the fatigue sets in.
(I'm so jealous of all the little daffodils pushing their way up in my neighbors' yards. Gardening fatigue hits me hard just about the time you're supposed to plant bulbs in the fall. Thus, no daffs in my gardens.)
I've not tried the newspaper trick before, but I've read about it and it seems to make sense. If it doesn't work? Well, lesson learned.
And isn't that how it works in knitting and fitness (and lots of other life lessons, but since this blog is knitting and running, I'll stick to the topic)? I like walking in the morning. I've tried late morning, early afternoon, late afternoon and after dinner, and a mid-morning walk seems to work best for me. It took some trial and error to figure that out, and it takes some major mind games to get me out the door when the chill is still in the air. But by the time I get home, I'm pleasantly warm and feeling pretty darned good about having the rest of the day to do other stuff.
Like clean garden sheds.
There are dozens of ways to manipulate string and sticks and end up with a piece of knitting. I've tried 'em all (I learned to knit when I was nine), and have found the method that works best for me. If someone comes up with something different (and they have – I'm looking at you, socks on two circulars!), I'll try it. Who knows, it might work better than my beloved 12-inch Addi Turbos. (I tried, it doesn't, but that's just me.)
And diets? How many freakin' diets have you tried in your lifetime? The comments would explode if you all answered that one. Finding a way to eat that
- doesn't make me obsess about food
- nourishes my body
- satisfies my appetite and
- doesn't break the bank
Have I found it? I don't know, but at my age I'm running out of time; I'd better figure it out soon, before I start eating dirt. I will say that this past year of eating locally grown (sometimes backyard garden-grown) food has been the most satisfying way to nourish my soul and body simultaneously. I'm expanding the crop list to include melons, more greens and lots of beans (some of which will be dried), among other things.
I think eating fresh, locally grown vegetables and grass-fed beef just might satisfy my dieting criteria.
Took me long enough, doncha think?
3 comments:
The gardening season is about to explode, Debbi! So, get ready because you're going to have the best time with your new, expanded plot (more meanings than one!) Walk, garden, Internet... in that order! As for the newspaper, make it THICK or the weeds will out-fox you!
Elora
Your comment about all the different times you've tried to walk just brought back a memory of a few years ago when I went to a "fat farm" (o.k. it was a one-week health program thingie - they hate being referred to as a fat farm).
One of their theories was that you should walk 1 mile after each meal. So every meal - morning, noon, and night - you would immediately leave the table and walk the requisite 1 mile (they had a tree marked at the .5 mile point to make it easy to know the distance). There was some "scientific" reason why this was good for your metabolism and why the timing of just after the meal was important - but who knows what it was.
I will say that I felt a lot better doing that. I had completely forgotten about it until now, though. Maybe I'll give it a try and see if it makes any difference - 3 one-mile walks a day would mean...well, at least 3 miles of exercise I'm not getting now! So it can't hurt.
Good luck with your garden. Sounds wonderful.
A lifetime of dieting is a sad thing, isn't it? I think often of the mental energy we waste thinking about food and size. I think the track you're on, the one that keeps you eating real food that comes from people and places you know, is the right track. But then again, I'm anti-track, because I don't believe in being on track or off track. Your last year's worth of posts have been full of the joy of food--real food, and I don't sense regret or guilt about any of those food choices. That's as it should be. I wish that those choices were transforming your body on the outside, but I do think they're transforming your thinking from the inside.
Post a Comment