Cross-post

Thank you to KevinMD for cross-posting one of my articles.

If you haven’t read this article yet, please go read.

Clumsy

One of the ways I get exercise is by having three garden plots in different locations instead of a single huge garden.  There is one garden directly behind my house.  That’s where I plant my zucchini and other high-maintenance veggies.  A second garden plot is further from the house, about half a mile away, at the end of the driveway.  My pumpkin and watermelon just need space to grow, not constant attention, so they don’t need to be quite as accessible and that’s a good location for them.  The final garden plot is 3/4 mile from the house, and it just has corn and pole beans.  I go visit it a couple times a week to check on the plants and pull weeds.  Except for the times that I decide to drive to check on the pumpkins, going to visit my gardens provides a good way to get a little exercise.

This past week I got the crazy idea that I would ride my bike to check on the corn and beans.  My younger sons love riding their bikes, and I thought they’d enjoy going with me if we biked.  They did.  Unfortunately, when we finally got to our destination, I parked my bicycle and tried to dismount.  Note the tried.

My foot caught on the bike and I fell sideways, crashing the bike down on top of me.  Thank God I narrowly missed cracking my head on the tractor bucket!  It scared my poor sons, but I was able to get up.

It would be nice if this was a simple case of clumsiness, but I’ve been so stiff lately that it was hard to lift my leg up to straddle the bike frame for the ride to the garden, and it was just as hard to lift my leg again to get off the bike after we arrived.

I think I need to add some flexibility stretches to my exercise routine!

Thanks for reading.  If you have favorite stretches that you feel are helpful, please share in the comments.