Survival of the Fit

I finally made it to the gym today after about three months of inactivity. I have managed to swim about once a week during that time. I know that exercise is a key to my physical and mental well-being and I have been suffering from my indolence. Today I found that my stamina seemed to have decreased more than my strength. Still, I managed to get in a pretty good work out. Here is what I did:

5-minute warmup on the stairmaster at level '7'
3 sets of 10 push ups on ball alternating w/ 25 crunches on ball
3 sets of squat-curl-shoulder lift combination w/ 12 lb weights
3 sets of leg lifts at 50lbs
3 sets of leg curls at 50 lbs
3 sets of assisted pull ups 10 reps (I forget the weight)
3 sets of bench presses 10 reps (10 lb weights on the bar)
3 sets of walking lunges (12 steps) w/12 lb weights
3 sets of prone cobra (30 secs) alternating w/side crunches

I see fitness in my future!

Room with a View

My laptop computer sits on a small red table I brought up with me from L.A. The table has a thick formica covered top and silver chrome legs. I am sitting on a blue chair with a contoured plastic seat and back, also with silver chrome legs , also from L.A. I sit facing a window that is about six feet wide and three feet tall. Out the window I can see only sky, trees, a telephone pole and a few power lines slicing across the panorama. Directly in front of me is a sprawling pine tree with two tops. I like looking at it. In the distance, to the right of the pine tree, there is a line of evergreens outlining the hills. If I sit up tall in my chair, I can see a small white church with a steeple at the base of the evergreens. A few rooftops become visible and I can see a big yellow sign with large red letters. It is at an angle, so I can't make out what it says. If I lean to the right and look out to the left I can see a little of the I-5 freeway and a green sign. I see and hear a few cars, but it is nowhere near as noisy as my apartment on Fairfax Avenue in West Hollywood. I hear my brother Gary come up the stairs. When he gets to the top, he rattles the wrought iron guardrail. It's 9:30 in the morning and he thinks I'm still sleeping. He's giving me a little light-hearted harassment. I'm up!