Ten-Finger Exercises

relaxing weekend

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and Bill took a couple fellows flying. Lola and I had a date at the dog park to meet Riley, a West Highland terrier with his own blog, and Sheltie Andy, and their people. It was their first trip there, and they didn't take to it quite like Lola does. Andy is more a people dog and didn't get into much doggie action. Riley ran a bit, farther than he's ever had a chance to before, his owner said, but his little legs tired out long before Lola's. They left after about 45 minutes, and we stayed on for another 45 to let Lola get some running in.

Someone showed me how to give her water from a squeeze water bottle, and she loved it. It meant she'd actually come to me occasionally during her play time. I'd tempted her with a couple of treats, without using them as bait to grab her collar and leash her up to get her to leave to come home. But the water was more useful. She can pass up treats easily if she's busy playing, but she loves the water.

I bought a Wii Fit on Thursday, and played with it a little. It's pretty fun, in addition to being a good recorder of your time and effort. You have a choice from balance exercises, yoga, strength training, arobics, and something else that I don't remember.
Some of the things require you to stand on the little board, and some, like running in place, just require the wrist banded control in your pocket.

To give you an example, the first balance exercise I tried showed a picture on the TV screen of a contoured board with a marble size ball on it and a hole in it. You had to move your body to tip the ball into the hole. After that it became more complicated, adding more balls and more intricately shaped boards. Pretty fun.

Another of the exercises was hula hoop. The screen shows your "Mii" avatar, and your movements make the hoop move on her. Another was a slalom course on skis, which I sucked at, but not as bad as I sucked at the ski jump. I didn't straighten up fast enough, and my "Mii" ended up in a big snow ball every time. A fun balance exercise was walking a tight rope, and jumping before the chopper coming toward you could get you. I managed to land back on the tight rope and keep going one time.

Running in place was, on the TV screen, running behind an avatar down a trail. You have to keep behind her but keep up with her, and dodge other people coming down the path.

There are lots and lots of choices, and the Wii gives you balance and skill tips, and it records your progress. Also tells you you've done a good job, sometimes even if you haven't; it's nice that trying counts for something, right?

When you