Gardening in Your Later Years
The only bad thing about our short season for gardening is that there is so much to do in a short amount of time – and I want to do it all at once. Unfortunately while the spirit is willing the back is not as strong as it once was and I’m not as diligent about keeping up my stretching and weight training as I should be.
That’s why this winter I’m pulling out my go-to book on Stretching by Bob Anderson. I’ve had this book for a long time and it’s where I head when I need to get back into my stretching routine. I hadn’t used it in a long time….make that a long, long time until recently I managed to put my back out. There was no comfort to be found anywhere and I don’t like to take pain killers. I feel lucky that at this age (late 60s) I can get by most days without them and that’s what I wanted to do. So I pulled out my stretching book and relieved a lot of the discomfort just by doing what I should have been doing all along.
Out came the yoga mat – although our Labrador Retriever found and claimed the mat as hers pretty quickly – but I managed to convince her to give me enough time on it to get some gentle stretching going.
It’s time to be more diligent about stretching in the next few weeks in preparation for the many gardening tasks that will face me come sprint. One, two, three stretch!!!! Here we go!
A link to the 30th anniversary edition of Bob Anderson’s book is below, and there are several ways you can purchase this book. You can contact your local independent bookseller or find it on Amazon by following the Buy on Amazon button below the visual of the book’s cover. If you do buy this book by following the link in this article, I may receive a commission.
Note: I'm a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
Creative and targeted programs that make an impact are the hallmark of experienced marketing professional Ruth Steele Walker. Focusing on results that improve the bottom line, she accelerates projects from conception to implementation with a mastery of writing, production, placement, budgeting and coordination.
During more than 25 years with Foremost Corporation of America, the nation's leading insurer of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles, Walker consistently produced effective communications programs that resulted in increased net written premium. Her expertise in crisis communications was a vital part of Foremost's exemplary customer service in the wake of hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Walker specializes in communications targeting the 50+ demographic, with an emphasis in communications for the 65+ segment.
Among other achievements, Walker developed communications for the merger of Foremost and Farmers Insurance, addressing audiences including customers, employees, trade and consumer media. For Foremost's 50th anniversary, she created a celebration program of internal and external promotions, special events, recognition and a 162-page commemorative book.
Earlier in her career, Walker was a newspaper reporter, a TV and radio producer, and worked in national sales and traffic at network TV affiliates. Walker earned a BA in journalism from Michigan State University and an MS in communications from Grand Valley State University.
She and her husband Scott operate a small vineyard in Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula, producing premium vinifera wine grapes. The vineyard has been the largest local supplier for Suttons Bay wine label L. Mawby, recently named one of the world's top producers of sparkling wines.
