Looking back: elder exercise

Today we had a rather wet snowfall, which enabled me to make some snowpeople with Katie. Actually, Katie more or less watched and I did the building. Alas, Kris missed it, she had a babysitting class that lasted much of the day. I dug a scooter and rocking horse out of the shed - Katie likes them a lot. She also likes watching muppets like Bert and Ernie. She can say "ball" and "banana" now.

The day after we got Katie (Jan. 13) the major event of the day was a visit to a local park. Our guide and driver took us in a car - later we found out it was only 4-5 blocks away and we walked there several days later. One of the thing we saw in the park and elsewhere is a lot of the older population doing morning exercises like Tai Chi, sometimes involving props like swords or ribbons or balancing balls on paddles. A lot of older people are very active this way, and they also do things like karaoke and dancing and playing instruments and writing poems on sidewalks. Badminton is popular among all ages. Some parks have outdoor exercise equipment for adults. Oh, and the kites! It still staggers my memory to think how high they could fly kites - hundreds of feet up, maybe up to a thousand feet based on comparison to nearby high rises.