Should I walk or should I ride?

It's official. I now look my age. People have always told me I look 10 or so years less than my actual age. This little slice of pleasure came to a screeching halt when I went to buy a bus pass for my adult son and the clerk brought me a Senior's Pass!!! Doesn't matter, the glare from between the few strands remaining on my head had already whispered to me, "You are not what you once were". Being diagnosed with PD at the appropriate age was just the topping on the cake.

To ward off age and my dark passenger, Parkinson's, I used to walk, 2 - 3 miles daily, but no more. Now I am housebound, that being my choice. We have had the coldest winter I can remember, with daily highs in the -20C to -30C range for weeks on end. One day, when the windchill was included, the temperature felt like -51C. And the snow! After the snow plow went by it left a ridge of snow that is above my head in some places! So now I stay inside and ride my stationary bike. It's still great exercise, but it doesn't help me lose weight. I have put on a couple of more pounds. I prefer walking, but only crazy people walk in this weather.

All that is about to change.

Shortly we leave for 3 weeks in Miami Beach. This will be our 13th visit and as a result, I know the area very well and last year I used my phone's GPS to calculate the distance of the different walks I take (little did I know the roaming charges added up to $2,000.00, which my carrier fortunately reduced to $200.00). In South Beach, as usual, I will walk 3 miles, 2x a day. That should give PD a little hit. Shoot, I might even run a few hundred meters. Falling on sand shouldn't be too big a deal. I might even lose the excess weight

We have always been lucky with South Beach weather, with only a few cool days in total. It is often above 25C and I love the heat. Every year I return with my skin an unwanted, but nice, pre-cancerous shade of brown. So for 3 weeks, it will be summer. Unfortunately we will return to winter but in April, it should be warmer, close to zero. My fingers are crossed.

I leave you with a quote from that famous Yankee, Yogi Berra:

I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.