My neighbor, John, arrived home from Alaska over the weekend. John spends his summers on a 38-foot boat, fishing for fun in the waters around Sitka. He hosts friends and family a few weeks each year, but otherwise his time is his own.
During our winters, he spends a few months in New Zealand, helping friends on a dairy farm. And for two brief windows, John is at home, here in Oregon. From what I can tell, he spends his time watching football and doing yard work.
I like him.
When I saw his car in the driveway on Saturday, I went over and knocked on his door. He was delighted to see me. “Let’s set outside,” he said. And then, a courteous host, he asked, “Can I bring you a Mountain Dew?”
“No thanks,” I said. “I’m watching what I eat.”
“That’s great,” he said. “You do look thinner.”
“I’ve been dieting and exercising,” I said.
“Oh, I hate that stuff,” he said. “I stay healthy by working. I’ve never led a sedentary life. I’m 72 and feel as healthy as I’ve ever been. Well, my knees give me trouble sometimes, but otherwise, I try to stay active.”
We sat for an hour on his porch, discussing boats and neighbors and politics. He sipped his Mountain Dew. I munched on some grapes from the vines that grow wild around his property. He told me about fishing (I don’t know anything about it). I complained about how overgrown our yard is becoming. “It’s too much to handle,” I said.
John told me how fun it was to see my personal finance blog in Money magazine. “I told my friends that the guy who wrote that was my neighbor!” he said.
After a while, I took my leave. “I should go,” I said. “We have company coming, and I have chores to get done.”
“It’s good to see you,” John said. “Hey. You should come up on the boat next summer,” he said. “You’re welcome to come.”
“You know what?” I said. “I think I will.”
I was late for the gym this morning. I just felt like I had to get some writing done before I lifted weights.
When I went out to the car at 11:30, John was in his yard talking with another neighbor, Tom. Tom is 82, and has had heart trouble recently. He looks fit and healthy at the moment, but I know he’s concerned. I went over to say hello.
“What are you up to?” John asked, pointing at the piece of paper in my hand.
“I’m off to they gym,” I said. “That’s my log. I keep track of the weights I lift.”
“That’s crazy,” John said. He’s not the sort to hold anything back. “I’ve never understood why anyone would pay for a gym membership when they can get plenty of exercise at home. Look at me,” he said, and he motioned to his lawn. There was a pile of trimmings and lawn tools — he was in the middle of yard work.
“I’m active,” John said. “I don’t need to go to a gym. Just look at that yard of yours. If you were outside pruning things, you wouldn’t need to go the gym, either!”
We laughed, but I knew he was right. Hadn’t I just been complaining about my lack of time for yard work the other day? Still, I said good-bye and climbed into the car and drove to the gym. I lifted weights. I drove home.
But a part of me wondered if I couldn’t come up with some sort of weekly yard plan that gave me 30-60 minutes of labor every day. I’d kill two birds with one stone! I think that’s a great idea for the future, once I’m trying to maintain a certain level of fitness. But for right now?
Right now I want to keep plugging along with Body for Life. It seems to work for me: I feel strong, happy, and healthy.
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Growing up my parents and I lived on a full 1-acre lot, with our straight-ranch house right in the middle. One solitary tree out front. My parents (father mostly) refused (or couldn’t afford, we weren’t well to do) to purchase or aquire a riding mower, and the only mower we had was a small push mower.
I think I mowed our lawn MAYBE 5 times, total – and I lived there from the time I was 5 until I was in college, so approximately 13 years. I did so out of principal (to my naive brain anyway) – 1 full acre is too much to push mow. So, my extremely hard construction working father mowed it instead. Usually in two separate nights as it was too large to tackle in a single night.
Why do I out myself as a dead-beat child? Well, I apologized just this weekend to my father for NOT mowing. The reason being is that now that I’m getting fit, and doing more to get and stay in shape (the good kind of shape) – I mow my own lawn. I have an old push mower, and a nice large lawn tractor. My lawn is just over 5/8 of an acre, and I make sure that I push-mow the front part, all the way from the road to the back of the house. Every time. I do it for exercise first and foremost,I then drive the rider in the remainder.
Just push-mowing is a LOT of work. That is, if you’re like me and have an old fashioned mower. None of that self-propelled stuff, that won’t do much for you.
Doing yard work as part of a fitness plan is a great idea IF you like yard work. If you don’t, you may find that you are not getting the yard work done and not getting in the appropriate amount of exercise.
It is hard enough to stay motivated to keep a healthy lifestyle with exercise that you enjoy. But to create an exercise plan that you really dislike… impossible.
I like your neighbor, too!
John’s perspective is what I’m working on at the moment. I haven’t belonged to a gym for almost a year, but have been keeping active by walking and cycling everywhere (no car – you get a great workout by walking a hiking pack full of groceries back home from the store!). I WISH I had a yard or garden to work on. Someday.
But if the gym and BFL are working for you, that’s GREAT. Stick with it. Chances are, John has always done yardwork, and has always been in good shape. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to struggle to burn those Mountain Dews. For those of us who DO struggle, well, the gym’s a pretty good start.
I think you’d need a pretty huge yard to stay in shape by doing yard work. Apart from mowing with a push mower it’s not very aerobic, and unless you’re hauling big logs it’s also not as effective as weight training. But as a complement to aerobics and weight training it’s great, and it gets you outdoors to boot.
When I was a kid I had to do all the yard work on our property (about 2 acres), including mowing with a push mower, raking, pruning, weeding, cutting up fallen branches and trees, splitting firewood, etc., and that kept me in great shape. But where I live now it takes less 30 minutes to mow the lawn with my push mower and I barely break a sweat.
My ex father-in-law raised beef cattle after he retired, on about 100 acres of land. That kept him incredibly fit, and his doctor at one point told him he had the body of an 18-year-old and was free to eat whatever he wanted.
My role model for healthy aging is a 74-year-old guy I met once while bicycling in southern New Hampshire. Every Tuesday he would ride his racing bike 65 miles from his home in New Hampshire up to Ludlow, Vermont, a ride that included many long and steep hills, and he would stay in the youth hostel there. Then he’d ride back home the next day. He’d been doing it for years, and it showed. He was in incredible shape.
I’ve tried to jazz up my yardwork a bit. For example when I mow the lawn I try to run with the mower but in reality it doesn’t give you much of a workout when you compare it to a proper gym workout.
My wife and I have talked about this a lot. We both grew up working on farms. You had to get up every morning and do “the chores.” We didn’t have to watch what we ate, or worry about getting enough exercise. Then, middle America adult life set in, and the holy cow factor came into play.
Every time I pack my bag to go to the gym to lift pieces of iron, I’d just bet my grandparents are looking down, chuckling…
I try to do both — be more active (even yardwork) and have my exercise plan.
Wonderful post. John is lucky. He has found activities he enjoys and has stuck with them. The key is finding something you can stick with for the long haul. Probably also has good genes.
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