Life As Performance Art 46

Physically, I am trying to push my limits a bit more, partly to help control my weight, which always threatens to rise above a certain acceptable limit. So, instead of walking just three miles, I try to walk five. Instead of six miles, I try for eight. Instead of seven, ten. So, the last couple of days have been particularly active. I have long been in the habit of getting off the bus at Granville and Angus Drive, then walking three miles down to the coffee shop on Fifty-Seventh, or if it is Sunday, to the Anglican parish church I attend just across the street from the coffee shop. Then I will walk back four and a half miles, if I am going to buy groceries at the No Frills on Fourth Avenue, or three and a half miles if I decide to get on the bus somewhere between Sixteenth and Broadway at Granville. Lately, especially with the beautiful weather this May, I have been extending my walks. I get off the bus now at Fifteenth Avenue, then cross the street at Sixteenth and walk up the steep hill to the area of Shaughnessy on the other side of Granville, wind my way through the streets, cross Granville again at Balfour, then wind my way taking extra detours, until I reach the coffee shop, having covered between four and a half and six miles. Sunday, following church, I detoured west, taking a zig-zag route till I ended up in Pacific Spirit Park, where I continued to hike in the forest till I reached a bus stop. I covered about nine miles. Yesterday, despite the dismal damp weather, I extended my walk in Stanley Park till I covered the whole length, while walking in the woods. Altogether I walked about nine miles, plus an extra mile, later in the afternoon. I know this is is all good for me, especially given my age, though I really haven't much to crow about. I am sixty-three, and now I hear about folks in their eighties, and even at ninety plus running marathons! I seem to remember a time when if you squeaked past ninety, regardless of how decrepit your state of health, you were considered a hero. Now, if you are over ninety and not running triathlons, they are going to wonder what is wrong with you and why didn't you take better care of yourself when you were younger. People are never satisfied. Like the radical vegans protesting in front of the Vancouver Public Aquarium. It was a small protest, between twenty and thirty perhaps. I mentioned to one of the leaders that having been vegetarian for the last going on three decades has given me more reverence and respect for animals. That was when she tried to shove veganism down my throat. I politely shrugged her off, though I could have just told her to mind her own business. But really, militant vegans are every bit as obnoxious, and stupid, as religious fundamentalists, and they really do a lot to damage worthy causes by their self-righteous preaching. Humans are not biologically designed to be purely plant based. We are omnivores. I don't like the idea of killing other animals, so I still get my animal protein (needed) through eggs and dairy. No, I don't approve of the way chickens and cattle are usually treated, but I am on a low income so I can't afford to spend higher prices for ethical animal husbandry. But I already knew what a waste of time it would be explaining any of this to those people, so I just took a polite, less is more approach and got away from them. You cannot reason with people like that, anyway, so better to save your breath for something that is worthy.