Thursday, March 26, 2015

Florida, Fountain of Youth



Maybe all those Viagra ads full of silver foxes and women with flowing grey hair bounding around on the sand aren’t so far off the mark after all.

When I arrived in Florida a week ago, I expected to see perpetual left turn blinkers and fully occupied handicapped spots, and instead saw something very different.


Boomers were on the move.
They weren't hunkered deep in their recliner, waiting for winter to pass.
They weren't morosely watching the weather channel, gauging the arrival of the next snowstorm.

Everywhere I looked, people over a certain age were biking and walking.
They were striding with purpose, lifting hand weights as they went. They were kayaking. They were doing laps in the pool and yoga on the beach as the sun rose.

They looked slim and strong and mobile.
Ponce de Leon wasn’t too far off the mark. A trip to Florida will put new resolve in your fitness efforts when you see the sun birds down there.

They’ve found the good life and they intend to hang on to it as long as possible. 

15 comments:

  1. easy to be like that in the warm weather. but yah, our generation is determined not to get old. I mean, we are getting old but unlike my mother who proclaimed at the age of 60 that she was old and didn't have to do anything any longer and she sat her butt down and proceeded to get old and incapable of doing anything.

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  2. The scorpions are too big and the alligators to friendly for me to be young in Florida. I'll stay north and actively complain until spring.

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    1. I do have to agree with you on the dangers of too much nature, Joanne.
      I think next time I'll stick with a nice chlorinated pool.

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  3. I saw the same thing and it actually motivated me to do more, challenge myself to be physically active. However you may be only looking at the people that are on the golf courses, tennis courts, walking and bike trails, and in pools and gyms, There may also be a large population of people who are sitting in their homes with air conditioner's on watching TV, for whatever reason. But there definitely is something to be said for 80 degree weather.

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  4. It is too warm down there now, us Northerners would melt:)

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  5. I'm not worried about the physical part as I age, but the mental....
    What?

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  6. Ha ha, hit the same state in the middle of summer and you will see people snuggling up to the A/C units. Florida humidity is a beast. Snow birds have the right idea, warm winters and cool summers.

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    1. I do remember long ago being young and very pregnant in June in an un-airconditioned apartment in Columbus, GA. And shaking out my shoes every morning before putting them on.
      Yes, the south in the summer isn't all magic.

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  7. My sister is one of them. She swims a mile every morning and walks briskly after that. I consider myself to be pretty fit, but I can't keep up with her. :-)

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    1. Since I know that you regularly scale mountains and leap from airplanes, your sister's level of fitness is just scary. :o)

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  8. How can I convince husband to go to dr. for viagra? He is such a prude.

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  9. Guess I need to start saving for a trip to Florida. I'm bored with winter and turning into Humpty Dumpty!

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  10. Something to look forward to once we surface from our construction. :)

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  11. Blogging is the new poetry. I find it wonderful and amazing in many ways.

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