Yesterday Jake and I snowshoed around the heath, following the trail of a coyote. It was a white wonderland that stays pristine until its oblivion, unlike the mounds of dirt-encrusted snow piled high along the roads. Nature is always beautiful, but human progress--not so much. Cars: I love 'em and I hate 'em on a personal level, but how much better would our landscape be if we relied on trains--or, I don't know, the horse and buggy (though apparently people used to complain about manure). As time passes I become ever more convinced that we need to beware of comfort. It's nice to lie down in a soft bed after a hard day's work, but you don't want to become too mushy. And so-called convenience food--forget about it.
Yeah, so, enough pontification. This morning we integrated dumbells into the bodyweight exercises in the woodshed. Pull-ups with a 20 lb. dumbell held between the feet, push-ups while holding the dumbells with a row at the top of the motion, squats with dumbells at the side, then curling and pressing to complete the movement. Finished it off with plain old sit-ups.
In the afternoon Jake joined me for the same workout but we added 30 reps of the 5 lb. heavy rope between each set. Brutal.