If you thought last year passed quickly...
here is it January 19 ALREADY! Have you kept up with your NY resolutions? Have you made progress with your goals? I read a joke, and tried to use it with some people: Last year I opted to lose 20 pounds by Dec 31. Well, it's Dec 20 and I have 25 pounds to go!
I determined to be more active this year. It's strange, and I wonder how many others could testify to being aware of something similar, but over the years (more the past 6 years) I have sensed, I have felt, different parts of my body get older. Sometimes it is a crack. Sometimes it is a twinge somewhere. But years of being desk-based for the Bible project has taken its toll. I entered midlife in decent shape. And I've relied on this bedrock of fitness for the past decade. But I can feel it. I can feel different muscle groups “giving up”, seeing as they aren't in use the way they used to be.
It's been a slow decline.
In our last 2 years in China we rode our bikes all the time, everywhere. For grocery shopping, to eat out, to go visit people, to go down to the river. We even took our kids out on those wild roads!! After that we went Normandy and let me tell you, their cycling system is incredible! You can ride almost anywhere! So, because the kids were used to cycling we used to (you won't believe) get on our bikes spur of the moment and ride 22km/13.6 miles to the ocean, for the afternoon! Then ride back! We didn't have a car in Normandy either, so we still used bikes for everything. You might remember some pics from earlier emails or from another website showing us carrying laundry or christmas trees. Then, we moved to Basque Country in France for 3 years, and this is where the real decline started. There are cyclists down there... but the infrastructure is poor. I didn't want to risk dying on those roads (get that... I'd ride in China, but not in SW France). But I stayed active, walking or riding a few minutes to the university to teach. And while teaching I walked and paced and went amongst the students (most lecturers sat and read their lessons). I started ocean swimming, and playing pelote with Van. But it was still less, and I still gained weight and lost fitness. After that was south Germany. We lived on a hill. Everyone said I must be getting fit walking up and down... but all it did was tire me out! And we were surrounded by trails in the Black Forest! Surely I hiked!? Well, what people don't realize about “hiking in the Black Forest” is that the trails are car-wide gravel roadways. I'm from Canada. Our trails are on the actual ground of the forest. If you took the wrong trail, you'll get lost and a bear or bobcat or druggy or something will get you (in Canada). In the Black Forest, you will never get lost. Nothing will ever attack you. You are more likely to find a french fry hut in the middle of nowhere before you ever face any challenge. And for me, this was just depressing. Fake forests and fake trails did nothing for my internal life. So I rarely hiked over two years. And the classroom where I taught was better suited for sitting lessons. The real decline activated in Germany. Now, in Chiang Mai, the initial heat made it tough to get out; but I'm also used to just sitting at my desk, again, as I get back in the Bible project and keep up with my various web projects and hobbies.
This is why I'm writing January 19. The first month of 2025 is almost over! Granted, I have snacked less, but I haven't been active, hardly at all. I need to!
