Health Benefits

Managing the homestead can be hard work, but there are certain benefits that come along with the sweat. One of them is saving money on gym memberships. Rural ways is forty-something, but still going strong. So far there has been no temptation to join the obesity epidemic. Today I finished the first bit of fence to protect the garden. The roll of wire was 330 feet long and weighed between 183 and 276 pounds, depending on which gauge I bought . . . I can't remember. Anyway, I cut and set the posts, and then strung the wire, all of it by myself—though Valerie helped me pull the fence tight while I swung the hammer. It is difficult to put on much extra flab while doing that kind of work. On the other hand, those who know me, know how much I dislike being called "skinny." "Lean and mean" if you must, with an emphasis on the mean, but skinny is as skinny does, and that ain't skinny. Of course, you can earn the right to call me skinny, but it will require a least one broken bone. So far the only person who can use the term is Big Daddy Holmstedt who once gave me such a violent bear hug that he cracked a couple of vertebra.