Going Through the Airlock with Theme Music

As I try to pull back from the dullness abyss, still feeling shivers of caution for no good reason, I’m getting out in the Pacific Northwest sun and warmth more often, feeling good about that. And we head south to Hood River for a couple of days of passive stuff, no river rafting but hopefully some spectacular hikes and photos, and small-town food.

I heard a recent podcast from an anthropologist who studies primitive cultures and energy expenditures, and it was fascinating. The take-away wasn’t surprising – if you’re looking to drop pounds, exercise will be minimal if anything in terms of effect; it’s all about controlling intake. BUT – the benefits from even minor exercise were fascinating, in terms of the body focusing its energy expenditure on activity and less on the other stuff, like creating inflammation from our overactive immune systems. Inflammation is bad, the precursor to cancers. It’s like if we don’t move a lot, our body does busy work and some of it isn’t cool.

I do a lot more activity, more along the lines of yard work, hacking blackberries with a machete and trimming back ground cover that has taken over our front section by the house (really don’t want vines seeping inside, which sometimes they have through window cracks).

Walking, still, is my go-to, especially if I can get it up to 4-5 miles of a decent pace. It ends up aerobic enough for my purposes, and it feels like brain with fairy dust. I levitate a little.

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My job disappeared in May, whoosh, funny. I began 50-60 hours a week the second week of March 2020, desperately trying to find some video way for our church to connect when we were locked inside our homes (for 64 weeks, and that was sooner than some churches returned to in-person). I’m still contracted for a few videos per month, glad to be of help.

But with more time, and my daily Zoom interactions with my grandson. We’re into 14 months or so now, daily hour-long (or longer) sessions of conversation, some research together on various animals, real and mythical. Some role playing, some pretend, so speculation. Some watching of videos, or hints to each other about Easter eggs in iPad games.

Sometimes we joke that we need a theme song, like an opening to a show we’ll produce of this intergenerational marvel. I started singing “The Bix and Grandpa Show!” to the theme of Itchy and Scratchy from The Simpsons, but then I got a better idea. Found a karaoke version of the Animaniacs theme from the ‘90s, wrote some lyrics, tried to cover what we do…

And thought I’d share. Like it a lot. And keep me busy. Now to learn to do it outside