We too are their age and I smiled as you were relating this moving task. We live in the mountains and have done this kind of heavy task as part of our chores. We don't question it. I have stacked wood for our stove on our porch climbing with armfuls of logs uphill and then stepping up many, many times to fill the area of enough wood to last for a few weeks. It is tiring but such a great workout on my arms and legs. You love it and accept it and move on to the next task. And at the end of a productive day, a welcoming glass of wine in front of a roaring wood stove is my definition of heaven.
I think you just described a perfect day, especially with the cozy fireside glass. There's something very satisfying about heavy labor that ends with such a scene!
Many older couples are tired of keeping up a house and yard, sell out then move to retirement communities where the outside work is done by others. Some exercise, many spend all day on computers.
Well, we can't say that we haven't thought about that around the edges, LOL, and there will come a day when my husband and I look at each other and realize that we have given it all we have, loved every good, bad and ugly moment of our mountain home but a more relaxed lifestyle is on the horizon. In the meantime, I have family, city people that I visit to do just that ( I grew up that way). I enjoy how the other half lives briefly and then return and hug the land~
He is 81 with back issues, no children, and we downsized and realize no one lives forever. My parents did likewise years ago in Arizona, neither one liked yard work or gardening.
Haha, I was visiting my brother in Chicago and he took me on a tour of his workplace in the heart of downtown. He later informed me that after my visit, there was heavy conversation among his coworkers about the exact nature of my workout and fitness routine. And that most assumed I worked out regularly and ran miles per day. He had to regrettably inform everyone that I don't 'work out' at all and haven't been in a gym in almost 20 years. I just live on 7 wooded acres in the rural NC piedmont. Keyword "live". Strange that it seemed so confusing to them.
I say the same for erecting ironing boards and lifting, washing and storing my collection of cast iron skillets. Housework, especially including vacuuming and scrubbing bathtubs and sinks, can be a workout
I handle steel all day in my metal fabrication shop, so I'm not too flabby.
At nearly 70, though I doo keep adding some pounds due to not being able to walk so fast since the cement floor has taken it;s toll on my legs and feet.
How refreshing to finally read something not about all the garbage in the world. Thanks for putting fingers to keyboard! Makes me yearn for a simpler time, just in time for the government induced complications to arrive huh.
I have a bad back and my husband stacks all the firewood and those kinds of chores (in exchange for my wonderful cooking) but this story reminded me of a beautiful English oak dresser I brought with me into our marriage. I was so proud of the purchase of this antique but the lacquer finish was forever ruined when the utter boneheads in the apartment above mine who while filling their water bed with a garden hose attached to their bathtub, decided to GO OUT TO DINNER. The waterbed overflowed , the apartment flooded and soaked through to my cottage cheese plaster ceiling, which collapsed falling on that dresser and also ruining a hand-made heirloom quilt. So the dresser with all of its flaws was moved into a guest room, and then after another move, there was no room, so it was sold to a local antiques barn for pennies. I really cried when the guy that came to pick it up and my husband loaded it into the back of his van; I felt I had personally caused its sad fate. So then I went inside and continued peeling potatoes. I still have the tattered quilt and the husband with the strong back.
Where I live, I made the mistake in the early days of COViD of wearing a mask in the grocery store. Not even because I wanted to but because they put one in my hand on the way in the door. I was there for 2 items and just obliged them rather than making a scene. Well I didn't make it two aisles before encountering an 80+ year old lady,. built like an ox and not wearing a mask. And she stared me straight in my mask face with a look that clearly and upmistakably said "YOU ENORMOUS PUSSY". It was so obvious that i could have believed she actually said it out loud, but I she didn't. So I walked around to the next aisle, tore that mask off and NEVER wore another one. I'm only in my 40s but admit to having wondered in the time since if that lady was single and available. She made me more of a man in my late 40s with one look. What could you accomplish in a lifetime with a woman like that by your side?!
At the point in time that you have to rely on your own fishing skills to feed yourself, you will be glad to have had some practice. Your woke morality is a first world luxury and an excuse for a complete lack of life skills.. You are officially uninvited to my fish fry when the SHTF.
Why are you so surprised that they could lift and carry a simple piece of furniture? I never weighed more than 120 lbs before I went to boot camp and I was strong as an ox--I am old now but I can still lift and carry with no problem. Have we become so enamored by all these fake muscles that all the insecure people have to create that we don't know what real strength is?
You make an excellent point--real strength is not just the sculpted and cosmetic variety and is not seen among many of our young nowadays. Sadly, PT standards for our military recruits have been lowered to accommodate this weaker generation. I consider it high praise that a friend called my oldest son "country strong." Returning to this story, though--if you had laid eyes on the sweet couple next to the large and unwieldy chest, you might have felt similarly impressed by their work.
"Tendon strength" That's what I've always called it, and mostly what it is. The kind of deep muscle conditioning you only get by taxing your body to it's limits. You won't get it doing 'reps' in an air conditioned gym. Me and the 30 year old kid that helped lay my 75 for long, 4 foot high retaining wall in one day, can't help laughing at every idiot running on a treadmill or counting 'reps'.
This couple sounds a lot like us, but at least 1000 miles to the east. We have no plans to re-retire from our land, gardens, and animals. Best to die with our boots on and working as we believe God intended us to do all of the days of our lives. Can we work like we could when we were 20, or 40, or even 60? No way! And that does get a bit frustrating from time-to-time, but, we give each other a hug and carry on, splitting & stacking wood, working the gardens and fruit trees, feeding/watering and rounding up foraging animals, gathering fresh-as-can-be eggs from our pastured hens... It's hard, but it's good. And, we even get to help some homeschooling neighbors with tutoring their offspring since hubby is a retired engineer and the kiddos sometimes struggle with math. Meanwhile, I get to bake whole wheat bread for the neighbors and teach classes in town on edible and medicinal plants in the area.
I’m 77 and I stack three cord of wood every year ! First when it arrives, then when it’s ready to go into the garage. These days it takes a little longer…but I’m all in.
We too are their age and I smiled as you were relating this moving task. We live in the mountains and have done this kind of heavy task as part of our chores. We don't question it. I have stacked wood for our stove on our porch climbing with armfuls of logs uphill and then stepping up many, many times to fill the area of enough wood to last for a few weeks. It is tiring but such a great workout on my arms and legs. You love it and accept it and move on to the next task. And at the end of a productive day, a welcoming glass of wine in front of a roaring wood stove is my definition of heaven.
I think you just described a perfect day, especially with the cozy fireside glass. There's something very satisfying about heavy labor that ends with such a scene!
Many older couples are tired of keeping up a house and yard, sell out then move to retirement communities where the outside work is done by others. Some exercise, many spend all day on computers.
Well, we can't say that we haven't thought about that around the edges, LOL, and there will come a day when my husband and I look at each other and realize that we have given it all we have, loved every good, bad and ugly moment of our mountain home but a more relaxed lifestyle is on the horizon. In the meantime, I have family, city people that I visit to do just that ( I grew up that way). I enjoy how the other half lives briefly and then return and hug the land~
He is 81 with back issues, no children, and we downsized and realize no one lives forever. My parents did likewise years ago in Arizona, neither one liked yard work or gardening.
Most rural folks don't need to lift weights and work out.
Haha, I was visiting my brother in Chicago and he took me on a tour of his workplace in the heart of downtown. He later informed me that after my visit, there was heavy conversation among his coworkers about the exact nature of my workout and fitness routine. And that most assumed I worked out regularly and ran miles per day. He had to regrettably inform everyone that I don't 'work out' at all and haven't been in a gym in almost 20 years. I just live on 7 wooded acres in the rural NC piedmont. Keyword "live". Strange that it seemed so confusing to them.
I say the same for erecting ironing boards and lifting, washing and storing my collection of cast iron skillets. Housework, especially including vacuuming and scrubbing bathtubs and sinks, can be a workout
Yup!
I handle steel all day in my metal fabrication shop, so I'm not too flabby.
At nearly 70, though I doo keep adding some pounds due to not being able to walk so fast since the cement floor has taken it;s toll on my legs and feet.
How refreshing to finally read something not about all the garbage in the world. Thanks for putting fingers to keyboard! Makes me yearn for a simpler time, just in time for the government induced complications to arrive huh.
I have a bad back and my husband stacks all the firewood and those kinds of chores (in exchange for my wonderful cooking) but this story reminded me of a beautiful English oak dresser I brought with me into our marriage. I was so proud of the purchase of this antique but the lacquer finish was forever ruined when the utter boneheads in the apartment above mine who while filling their water bed with a garden hose attached to their bathtub, decided to GO OUT TO DINNER. The waterbed overflowed , the apartment flooded and soaked through to my cottage cheese plaster ceiling, which collapsed falling on that dresser and also ruining a hand-made heirloom quilt. So the dresser with all of its flaws was moved into a guest room, and then after another move, there was no room, so it was sold to a local antiques barn for pennies. I really cried when the guy that came to pick it up and my husband loaded it into the back of his van; I felt I had personally caused its sad fate. So then I went inside and continued peeling potatoes. I still have the tattered quilt and the husband with the strong back.
Only 63, living rural, women all around, in their late 80's, still mowing and weedeating. Doing the same now, making every effort to follow the herd.
Where I live, I made the mistake in the early days of COViD of wearing a mask in the grocery store. Not even because I wanted to but because they put one in my hand on the way in the door. I was there for 2 items and just obliged them rather than making a scene. Well I didn't make it two aisles before encountering an 80+ year old lady,. built like an ox and not wearing a mask. And she stared me straight in my mask face with a look that clearly and upmistakably said "YOU ENORMOUS PUSSY". It was so obvious that i could have believed she actually said it out loud, but I she didn't. So I walked around to the next aisle, tore that mask off and NEVER wore another one. I'm only in my 40s but admit to having wondered in the time since if that lady was single and available. She made me more of a man in my late 40s with one look. What could you accomplish in a lifetime with a woman like that by your side?!
Wonderful!
LOL! I'm still laughing! Great story!
Great story. Thank you.
Too bad a sweet story had to be ruined by the knowledge that they enjoy pointlessly torturing fish.
It's flat sadistic and there is no excuse if you aren't going to eat them.
At the point in time that you have to rely on your own fishing skills to feed yourself, you will be glad to have had some practice. Your woke morality is a first world luxury and an excuse for a complete lack of life skills.. You are officially uninvited to my fish fry when the SHTF.
Nonsense. There is nothing that typifies woke more than catch and release.
From fish to criminals, catch and release IS woke.
I am sorry you are so confused.
OK Deuce, that made me laugh!
You get today’s Gratuitous Buddha award
You earned today's Obnoxious Troll Award.
It''s more meaningful, because you have earned it.
Why are you so surprised that they could lift and carry a simple piece of furniture? I never weighed more than 120 lbs before I went to boot camp and I was strong as an ox--I am old now but I can still lift and carry with no problem. Have we become so enamored by all these fake muscles that all the insecure people have to create that we don't know what real strength is?
You make an excellent point--real strength is not just the sculpted and cosmetic variety and is not seen among many of our young nowadays. Sadly, PT standards for our military recruits have been lowered to accommodate this weaker generation. I consider it high praise that a friend called my oldest son "country strong." Returning to this story, though--if you had laid eyes on the sweet couple next to the large and unwieldy chest, you might have felt similarly impressed by their work.
If one loses the mental mettle then the physical mettle isn't far behind. Will it, huh.
"Tendon strength" That's what I've always called it, and mostly what it is. The kind of deep muscle conditioning you only get by taxing your body to it's limits. You won't get it doing 'reps' in an air conditioned gym. Me and the 30 year old kid that helped lay my 75 for long, 4 foot high retaining wall in one day, can't help laughing at every idiot running on a treadmill or counting 'reps'.
This couple sounds a lot like us, but at least 1000 miles to the east. We have no plans to re-retire from our land, gardens, and animals. Best to die with our boots on and working as we believe God intended us to do all of the days of our lives. Can we work like we could when we were 20, or 40, or even 60? No way! And that does get a bit frustrating from time-to-time, but, we give each other a hug and carry on, splitting & stacking wood, working the gardens and fruit trees, feeding/watering and rounding up foraging animals, gathering fresh-as-can-be eggs from our pastured hens... It's hard, but it's good. And, we even get to help some homeschooling neighbors with tutoring their offspring since hubby is a retired engineer and the kiddos sometimes struggle with math. Meanwhile, I get to bake whole wheat bread for the neighbors and teach classes in town on edible and medicinal plants in the area.
Lovely.
I’m 77 and I stack three cord of wood every year ! First when it arrives, then when it’s ready to go into the garage. These days it takes a little longer…but I’m all in.
Lovely story, beautifully told.