" ... Fights a Never-Ending Battle ...

Those of you old enough (and with long-term memory still mostly intact) might recognize that as part of the final phrase in the last line of the opening voice-over monologue for the old Adventures of Superman TV series. (It's a take-a-deep-breath line, the whole sentence: "Superman -- who can change the course of mighty rivers; bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice ... and the American Way ...")

The never-ending battle to which it refers here is ... staying in shape.

Over the winter, I have become a sluggard. Partially, this is due to the pansy attitude that makes going out back when the cold rain or snow is falling to do silat exercises and toss the barbell hither and yon something of a major inertia. I've been doing djurus in the hall or my office, a few sets of chins or invisible chair sits, odd bits of yoga, but that's not nearly enough.

An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by a greater force. We all know how that one works. It's why there are personal trainers.

Partially my case is due to recovery from a knee surgery that made me feel a bit tentative about pushing myself. Plus a recent back strain that knotted up muscle and made putting my pants on a lie-down-on-the-bed procedure. Drop something on the floor during this condition, it stays on the floor. And when in such a state, you will drop everything, it's Murphy's Law.

I mean, yeah, I didn't go into a full coma, but I did slack off.

The knee is as well as it is gonna get, the back has unspasmed, and now the time has come to get my ass into gear and man-up ...

It is harder to get into good shape than it is to maintain conditioning. And the older you get, the harder it is to get back to where you were. Either way, it is a never-ending battle. Take a few months off when you are thirty, no problem. Take a few months off when you are more than twice that old, you might not be coming back ...

At least the sun is shining today ...

The picture? My old drinking buddy, Methuselah, just before The Great Flood, at the age of 969 years. I told him he needed to keep up his yoga, but no, he wouldn't listen ...