Early Onset of Old-manishness

A few days ago, due to having laid in bed for so long, my body screemed for a workout, so I did a "power walk" for two hours, up to one of the mountain hamlets, and back down, directly to the waiting onsen bath. I walked because my knees have been starting to bother me, but most of all, because I probably couldn't have run for very far...

I am ashamed at how out of shape I am now. I fell out of the exercise habit while I was living in Hakuba because I was working so much more, and that work had *some* degree of physical activity. since moving here though, I have only run three times, and rarely do anything that gets my heart-rate up. What's more, a bike accident in October left me with a shoulder that, for a long time, could barely lift anything, let alone do push-ups. The shoulder is better now, but the will somehow slipped away. I also started doing yoga again the other day, for the first time in ages, and was appauled at how inflexible I had become.

This has nothing to do with new-year resolutions or any bullcrap like that, but I have really decided to start getting back into shape. I have gone this long without jogging before, but I was always able to pick-up where I left off with just a little effort. This time, I feel like I am back to zero. The force with which that cold hit me a few days ago has also opened my eyes to my true age. Dang. How come no one ever told me that old-manishness sets in at 33?

In other news...

My wonderful week of freedom is almost over. Tomoe's Outward Bound course will finish tomorrow, and I am supposed to be at the train station in Hiraiwa to pick her up. From there, we will head down to her parents' home to help them do some work on the house.

On the way, we hope to get chance to stop in Shirakawago, a world herritage site where the amazing traditional houses still exist. These are massive thatch-roofed houses, built so large, I am told, because land in the mountain vally is scarce, and in order to produce enough food for the village, they had to cram as many people into the one house as possible. I guess this is a traditional Japanese high-rise, except that in these houses, the inhabitants were all family, and there were no auto-locking doors.

Having missed a few days of my one week of precious freedom due to a bad cold that made me want to stay in bed, rather than do work, I am rushing around these passed three days to do the One Life work I want to get done, as well as a lot of work on the house (mostly finishing the painting of the living room and kitchen) that is hard to do when Tomoe is either sitting in the living room, or working in the kithcen.

The photo below is from my "power walk" to Okubo. The photo above is of the folks in my Haiku club on our monthly outing.

And, before I forget, or lose the paper I wrote them on, two more haiku that I had written for the club.

頭まで布団に突っ込む冬の風邪
atama made futon ni tukkomu fuyu no kaze
Stuffing yourself into the futon up to you head, a winter's cold

玄関で脱ぐかんじきや水溜まり
genkann de nugu kanjiki ya mizutamari
The kanjiki taken off in the entrance way, and a puddle of water