Steps Can Save You

To keep doctors away, they say, take 4,000 steps a day.

A fancy watch can tell you if you are cheating or not. That watch counts your steps through some exotic methods of knowing who you are and what you are doing in the moment. Sigh.

It really has a charge and makes me feel powerful when it knows I’ve been to a Grizzlies game and climbed up and down the steps with vigor to my seat on the floor. But every day, the foot movement is added to two times a day efforts to walk at least a half hour or/and if I got up that morning and drove in the dark to the beautiful Shelby County Lake - where there is a 2.5 mile walk around the place - and one sees and salutes the regular walkers or runners - and the ducks and geese chatter about all that is going on before they soar into groups like V’s to and for, as they go to the warmer climate in the fall. There is a peace in the beauty and gentility there.

In Uruguay - it’s a lonely long three-mile walk, up and down dirt roads, under beautiful extremely tall pine trees, kicking aside massive pinecones (that people would hunger for at Christmas time in Memphis) and with a dip into the Rio de La Plata at some point so Black the dog can lay down in the water - especial if a hot day. There he can slap up some water and we watch the thin sea grasses as tall as I am waving in the wind. Black is one of dozens of black dogs that, if they are not Rottweilers, they have that blood somewhere and having been pretty much on the loose. Black dogs skip out and bark a bit when Black and I pass by. But honestly, nothing can beat the low-key small environment of Zagazazu - even the name is a tongue twister. But drive from the highway straight to the bottom of the old road and you will be in awe. There is a sandy area where a visitor can stop the car for a few minutes, and there is a set of exercise machines (which you will find all over Uruguay in certain healthy spots) and only on weekends are there any sort of something one could call tourists touring.

And there are dogs all over this small barrio - well it’s not a village even - no stores, just small houses where people live, and dogs run freely. One gets accustomed to having your dog know the other dogs - some sniff around, some bark a bit, others tag along to see what’s up with your dog that day. Black, my companion out of the four dogs we have, is an old timer - he was a “street” dog, even though there weren’t any streets back in the day, just dusty roads. But about four or five years ago, Roberto began feeding Black (his exotic name) and now Black accompanies me, puffing hard as he can - kissing his buddies that he knows, but just trotting on by if someone new appears that he doesn’t know. At some cottages, there are dogs that bark like we are criminals - some are free, others are chained, and others are just anxious to let us have it with all the noise they can. One gets used to that. Our four dogs who aren’t allowed to roam the streets, but they bark like crazy when any kind of animal passes by. And to boot, now we are suffocating with the noises of a private airport Uruguay just finished basically to bring in, I surmise, tourist from Argentina, which is literally right across the Rio de La Plata, which is smack in front of all of us living along the front road.

There are all sorts of gimmicks out there that can keep you straight in your stepping. Small versions and life-testing and on rainy days, walk around the house or apartment until you have done 2000 steps. It helps. But my eyes popped open when the thought of maybe reducing the kick of dementia if I did hefty walking daily, and that gives me hope of hanging around a few more years without becoming a burden for my family and friends.  Sure, I have a lot of un-divine stuff - crooked hands, veins all over the place, mini cancer stuff burned off my face or legs, and a mess left over when I had my cataracts removed. The exercise experts say 4000 per day reduce the risk of dying from any cause, including cardiovascular disease. But to know what is going on, you need to invest in one of those Apple watches and it will chime and time you when you’ve hit the high note, or the low note, and you can keep at your speed, for means 30-34 minutes. I cling on to it after my favorite addiction, Jeopardy at 3:30 p.m. - even though it seems I never get any of the answers right. I start warming up or hopping down the elevator and get in another mile even though it could be the hottest time of the day in summer. Do it, regardless. If it’s raining, put on a rain hat. What else can you do? Your body will love it.

~ Rev

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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com