I had a lot of fantasies about all the different things I was going to do after I lost weight. I was going to be a lot more active, I thought.

• I was going to buy bicycles for my wife and me, and go bike riding all over town.
  
• I was going to take a self-defense class and learn how to finally protect myself.
  
• I was going to go on photo safaris all over, and spend hours walking around and taking pictures.
  
• I was going to go on hikes in the Shenandoah mountains, and learn kayaking – why, I have no idea.
  

I’ve been trying to get my wife to agree to buy bicycles for some time now. She always said that we couldn’t afford it and that they were too expensive. I agreed with her, but it was really something I wanted. I felt that it was going to help in my recovery from weight loss. I wanted to buy bicycles in spring so that we could go out riding when the weather was cool. She had said no, but just last month she agreed that we should buy bicycles.

I called up a good friend of mine who is an avid cyclist, and he met us at the pro bike shop. After spending a few hours of learning about bicycles, we selected two identical his and hers Schwinn comfort bikes. It’s been 90 to 100 degrees here most days, and just too hot to ride. On the few occasions that I have been able to ride my bicycle, I will say, I am woefully out of shape. I find that I can’t ride for more than fifteen minutes at a time, partly because we live on a hilly street, and going up and down the hills takes a lot more energy than riding a stationery bike. So far my attitude has been that my biking stamina will improve the more I do it. I’m just waiting for the weather to get a little bit cooler so I can go out riding.

One of the other things I need to do is to start weightlifting. When I was having all those back problems, my physical therapist told me that the issues were partly due to my back muscles not being strong enough to withstand the extra exertion I was putting on them. She told me I needed to strengthen my back muscles. My wife and I have signed up for a weightlifting class that meets once per week. She is encouraging me to go do weight training two to three times per week. I believe the class starts next month, and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve also looked online to find photo safaris all over the country. There are several photo safaris in my area. I signed up to go to one in August. It would be great if I could go to one safari per month to get back into my photography. I’ve really been missing it. This particular safari I signed up for is going to be meeting at a museum, and we’ll be shooting in and around the museum.

I asked my wife if she wanted to come along with me, and we could have lunch afterward. She agreed to go with me to the museum, but not to the photo safari. She would spend her time walking around the museum while I shot my pictures. We would meet up at the museum restaurant at a pre-designated time for lunch. One of the reasons why I invited her was because I didn’t want her to feel left out.

The entire time that I was at the fire department, she would always complain that I was leaving her to go to the fire department and that I wasn’t spending enough time with her. I would like to make her as much a part of my photography as possible. It won’t be possible all the time, because a lot of these safaris don’t allow you to tag along if you don’t have a camera. I’ll do my best.

My wife also found a kayaking class in the LL Bean catalog, and also, a fly fishing class. I’ve always wanted to try fly-fishing. I had signed up for fly-fishing classes a couple of years back while we were on vacation, but unfortunately, I was sick in bed the entire time during that vacation, and was not able to do it. While I haven’t actually done anything yet, it’s exciting to know that I am making plans for an active future. I think last weekend’s excursion to the park was a good first step.