Skipping Boxes -- Dave BckermanA recent, horrifying discovery: it seems I can't skip anymore. Well, technically, I can - but there's not much height in my steps. I crave the lithe and lofty ease of a 7-year old's advantage.
I'm showing signs of the cost associated with a low-exercise life. Vigorous practicing/playing piano is actually quite effective. But, it takes a Hindemith-type workout to get my respiration rate up and to feel the 'burn' (yeah...I'm exaggerating). I do have Mozart, Kabalevsky and Bruch on my plate. But right now, I feel called to spend quiet and somewhat more introspective time at the piano.
If it were summertime, I could go outside and power walk. The weather is currently...well, frightful (technical term from a Christmas song). Currently, it's 5 degrees (-15 with wind chill). At 7pm last night, it was close to 50 degrees. We expected the dramatic storm that hit late evening -- severe winds and rains turning to snow. A California girl is always ready for "blizzard conditions" to come , but, that -- the pretty part -- didn't materialize. Translation: very little snow! Drat. It's only attractive to have frozen condensation on the inside of a storm door if it's a wonderland outside. There's nothing out there that beckons, unless, perhaps, I might like to see if my breath would freeze in mid-air.
This morning, I jogged around the house. The kitchen island, the dining room table, the living room coffee table -- they present themselves to one who is willing to 'run in circles'. Thank goodness for stairs, also! A small epiphany: Why not simply run instead of walking when needing to move about the house? Yet...skipping truly beckons, and not just because I might miss being a child (I can still be child-ish). It seems I am very much not alone.
I happened upon extremeskipping.com today (a warning for the language sensitive: some things on the site might be offensively in your face). 'Extreme Gene' shares the zen of it all in this fairly famous video*:
I picked up a new trick from Gene (besides intuiting that there really aren't any rules): zigzagging. Crossing a foot over the other adds an extra twist to the body. Oops, this newcomer just twisted her ankle. I guess I won't be jumpin' off curbs and bouncing off walls...just yet.
Skipper Kim from San Francisco has a blog and a website devoted to the subject.
Highlights from Jay Aaron's review of Gene's video can be found here. Then, just click 'On This Page' to go to the article.
P.S. I did find a video on YouTube that shows a very trim Gene!
5 comments:
...if you are "running" in the house...Lucy must be "extremely" happy...
I, too, have found that I am unable to "skip" the way I used to! What a strange thing...did I forget...or did my body? I have a new furry friend named Barclee (an adorable Bichon Friese) who LOVES to go for walks (something Mousie and Christy found quite beneath them!)and I have tried to "skip" with her! No can do! She doesn't care but I guess that is just one more of those things we lose "with age!" Love you!
Yes, Lucy loves the 'activity!...runs around with me...then, as she intuits the repetitive nature of my laps, decides she can get the gist of it without putting out as much physical energy and stops in the doorway of each room. She's never short on extreme thinking!
mm, Barclee sounds adorable!! Can you put a picture up on your blog? I see the Westminster Dog show is coming up in a few weeks. I'm always rooting for the BC's, but BF's like Barclee have a better chance these days.
My kindergarden teacher told my mother I might be mentally retarded because I didn't know how to skip when I was 5. I have never really gotten over that--I CAN skip. I just didn't see the point.
Scout, you hit the nail on the head -- it truly is pointless!
Some pointless, perhaps mindless, childish things I like. However, I've generally preferred things with intense meaning.
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