Eat Pray Love – It Was Okay

Today, I went to see the Julia Roberts movie Eat Pray Love. It was TWO HOURS and THIRTY MINUTES long. And the slowness of the movie in some spots made it seem even longer. On the whole, though, I enjoyed the movie. There were lots of beautiful scenery from Italy and Bali. I can’t say I appreciated the scenes from India.

Except for getting some eBay packages ready and taking them to the post office, the rest of today I’ve spent goofing off at home. Isn’t that awful? But I’m retired so I guess I can do that once in a while.

Yesterday I finally got the hiking poles I ordered. I’ve been testing them in the house and tomorrow morning will venture out into the outside world with them. They are kind of tricky because you have to:

1. Set them at the right height (I got the 3-piece poles, but there are 2-piece ones).
2. Make sure you have the right type of foot on the pole for the type of terrain you’ll be walking on.
3. Make sure you use the proper pole (they come designated right and left).
4. Adjust the straps correctly.
5. Make sure you don’t scuffle (drag the pole foot along as you walk) the pole foot as you walk.
6. Don’t white-cane, i.e. make sure you don’t put your cane out front like a white cane.
7. Use the left pole when stepping forward on your right foot; use the right pole when stepping forward on your left foot.

I’ve gotten pretty good at walking down the hall with them. Tomorrow, I’ll probably make a fool of myself in front of everyone in the park. But, who knows; I might be incredibly talented at it. I’ve been finding it easy to lose my balance and think the poles will make it easier to walk. When I’m camping full-time, I plan to do a lot of hiking and walking.

Most of you who know me realize I’m normally a very sedentary person. I want to change that and hope these walking poles will make that possible.

Until next time…