Dear JWR:
Well, hallelujah for Dr. Bob’s practical attitude toward fitness!
I’ve been working our homestead for almost 20 years, now, and I’ve been amazed at what the workout crowd can’t do, hurting because they had to shovel manure and those particular muscles weren’t on the look lovely list. I’ve worked many a man into exhaustion, although I do pay when it’s time to try to buy a dress that fits – women aren’t supposed to have biceps. For years I’ve wondered about spending big bucks to go to the gym when the push lawnmower and a few other practical things would probably do it, but people want the glitz.
Recently my husband has been able to spend more time on the homestead. Until then his main exercise was running or training his lower body and he hated tilling and shovel work and had trouble doing it. By switching to a rowing machine he’s been able to do far more – now he tells me to get out of the way so he can move the pens or other work I would have been doing myself. Can I get an Amen?
One last idea: if you know the water is going to be a distance away, Dr. Bob, why not plan now to bring it a little closer? Our water went out a few years back because of a failure in the water tank. We have a well but we couldn’t access it, so until the plumber could get out we dragged water for flushing from the irrigation wells. It was late winter/early spring, so it could have been worse, but I got to thinking what it would be like to haul all the water in bad weather in a grid down event. Decided to get a Bison pump. It does everything they say it does, and it’s in the back yard, not in the woods. Nice during Hurricane Irene. So if Dr. Bob can find a way to get that water to move even half the distance to his house now (ram pump? gravity feed?) he’d be doing himself a favor, because if you are living that old-fashioned lifestyle, you have a zillion other things to do beside the water chore.
And when I’m doing that kind of work, I don’t worry about my weight, either, and I don’t fuss over the eggs or other supposed bad foods because I’m burning them off. An old pamphlet I found in my grandmother’s kitchen actually extolled a national brand of fat for its high caloric content. Bit different lifestyle then, wouldn’t you say? – Linda S.