I was internally very happy with myself today for having finished another project that’s been a bit tedious and now moving on to the next and looking back with a smile. I’ve come to the conclusion that far too many people, and especially the young do not keep themselves busy enough to where they are burning about as many calories each day as they’re consuming. Yesterday, I made a strong suggestion to one of my relatives to not be taking over so much food to her father who is aged and gets little exercise. I had to be a bit more kind for fear she would take great offense by my suggestions. She said, “He really doesn’t eat that much at each meal.” I responded, “But you have to remember all the sweets, cookies and baked goods he seems to be surrounded by on a daily basis.”
I took the liberty of sharing my thoughts with her because she mentioned that he’s not as mobile as he was in the past. She went on to say how fearful she is of his falling and breaking something. I probably shouldn’t have said it, but I then interjected, “He may fall but likely won’t break anything because he’s going to bounce.” I hope that did give her a better picture of the situation from someone on the outside looking inward. I’ve known from the beginning I wasn’t put on this earth to be loved by all due to the sensitivities of people these days. There are few glandular disorders that cause people to become overweight. The bulk of the problem is over-eating and no exercise. Remembering too well what my elementary classmates looked like when growing up and seeing similar children standing on the street corners waiting for their bus and thinking, “Many parents have certainly dropped the ball on feeding their children healthy foods.” A very learned medical person who has been following the health statistics told me not long ago that the next big health problem is going to be diabetes. I am 100% certain he’s correct unless we can start making big changes on a National level.
While at my open house today and in between visitors, I happened to notice how many squirrels there were running about the owner’s yard as well as the neighbor’s. In watching them, I was reminded of a Public Television episode that was talking about how pan fried squirrel is such a delicacy in Great Britain. Perhaps I must have some British blood in me because the only wild animal that I consider palatable is fried or oven baked squirrel. Believe me, I tried just about any of the wild meats and poultry available, and I’ve never found any of them a bit tasty other than squirrel. Now maybe, just maybe, we can start a craze in North Iowa for pan fried squirrel and begin live trapping or snaring them for that special evening meal. I’m sure there are enough recipes on the internet to choose from. I can still remember when young my father and older brother coming home with five or six of them after a morning’s hunt. Their meat should be quite healthy since I don’t remember them having much fat on them at all. Likely not because of they way they’re always scurrying about in the trees and on the ground.
I compare excessively overweight people to ships that are overladen. Instead of sailing over an underwater reef, they find themselves caught on a reef because of the weight. How about a saying like this, “Stay in the Blue Zone so you don’t get caught on a reef.”
