someone told me it counts as exercise

I planted trees on Saturday.

Planting trees along a stream in the desert, I thought that would be an infinite thrill. I mean, how many times in life do you really get to do this? It was what I expected. And more.

The actual superseded the imagined in some ways. I thought we would dig a little hole, place a seedling or two, pour some water, move on.

It was hard physical labor. For hours I shoveled loose soil, and shlepped full buckets to and fro over rough terrain. Or bent over the insignificant stream filling buckets with water, and shlepped them to and fro, over rocks and holes and mounds. The cottonwoods I hauled were twice my height.

Next day I was sore all over, like a single throbbing wound. My legs are covered in scratches and bruises.

I could have taken it easier, I suppose, but with my customary lack of moderation, I worked hard and partied hard aftwerwards, and I woke up with a headache on top of everything else.

I skipped my big run. Does tree planting count as cross training?

Sometimes I wish I'd possess an ounce of temperance. But then, that might render me lukewarm and uneventful.

Anyhow, I took pictures before. In six or seven years, if excess doesn't kill me, I go back and take pictures after.