The new phone book came in the mail this week, and as I tossed the old one into the recycling bin I noticed a strange Rube Goldberg contraption on the back cover. In the year that the phone book has been gathering dust on the shelf, I’d never seen it before, but WOW, I wish I had! For the better part of USD15,000, I could get this marvel of engineering which promised to give me “exercise in 4 minutes per day.” That got me thinking. Why had I gone and spent money on my Long Haul Trucker, or my snowshoes, or any of the other gear I use to get off my butt and out into the world to punish my body? Why should I suffer on those long steep hills, sweating and, yes, sometimes drooling? Why had I invested in a closet full of clothing to help me punish my body? Goodness gracious, who in their right mind wants to contemplate a chamois after a two hour hard ride around these hills on a hot, humid day? In fact, why go OUTSIDE when I could remain in the comfort of my home with my miracle of engineering which would make me a prime physical specimen in so short a time every day? The mind boggles. Here are but a few reasons why:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Why in the world would I want to give up all this? We live in an age of the quick fix. For my part, I’ll forego the four-minute workout in favor of a hike, a pleasure ride to my favorite haunts, or a grocery shopping trip by bike. There is no comparison between them and being stuck inside four walls, breathing stale air and watching a DVD of others doing something exciting for real, outside.

 
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