When you live where there are four seasons, there are usually a couple times of year when things are stuck between, hung up in the middle, not one thing but not yet another. What to do then outdoors?
I do the Backyard Olympics. And our kids love it. Even Martha gets in the swing (she’s mostly a gung-ho Focusarian).
Personally, in the winter I ski. In the summer I bike and canoe.
But there are many other special things tossed into the mix. Snow shoveling. Lawn mowing, raking, hoeing, chopping, pruning. I have to be ready for them all. Backyard Olympics is the key.
All I need is a free half hour or hour…when it’s not too rainy or too cold or muddy. Usually each day has such an opening. Certainly every other day does.
So we have about 30 different things we can dash out and do all of a sudden, just for fun. Quick and lively things of great diversity and variety. All of them very good to do. I’ve written about them here before.
Here’s been our line-up lately:
*stretching
*jog
*skip
*zigzag dash
*ladder climb
*shot-put boulder
*jump—for distance and height
*barbells—curls, presses and rows
*jumprope
*kneebends
*rubber band pull (several hang from a tree)
*hitting and kicking the heavy bag
*rock throw for distance and accuracy–frisbee toss
*pinecone assault—trashcan lids for shields
*crabwalk, bearwalk
See, ya can’t beat it. Then before you know it the weather settles out and you find some steady groove. In the meantime you’ve built up your core again. You’re ready for the next thing. So are your kids.
