Daily constitutional or bootcamp - Hester Ley Nel - Dis Ekke
Posted by HesterLeyNel on 2017-12-18 30 Comments
Barefoot on the railway lines
The rain has let up a little and we decided to go for a walk. Just outside the gate, we met a few oldies (my age ☺) from the retirement village further up the street, who kindly enquired whether we were also “taking our daily constitutional”.
I nodded and smiled. My daughter seemed confused by this exchange and I explained to her that they wanted to know whether we were out on our morning walk. The expression originated long before her time and she found the meaning mildly amusing.
It also frequently refers to a morning bowel movement. Its a euphemism for a bowel movement. From a time when using the bathroom meant going for a walk to the outhouse--the original meaning was still "going for a walk", but this idea was used in the euphemism for going to the bathroom. - englishstackexchange.com.
There you have it! 😄
We went dancing along the train tracks which I wrote about in my blog post Secret Railway Line – Nature Reclaims What We Abandoned. “Dancing” is also a euphemism. The grass was wet and my feet began to slip around in my rubber flip-flops. So I tackled the two kilometers of my ‘constitutional’ barefoot, all the way stepping (dancing) around small stones with sharp edges, broken glass, bindweed and lizards. But this was no hardship; I was still able to admire the view of the beach and ocean.
After a while, we came across a couple of hadedas sunning themselves at the entrance of a well-kept path leading down to the beach. When we drew closer, they started walking down the path at a leisurely pace. We followed them and took some nice pictures of the path, the entangled tree roots and the beautiful orange hibiscus flowers lying on the ground.
At the exit to the beach, the hadedas posed for more pictures and then took off, flapping their wings and uttering those peculiar harsh cries. We decided to go home via the beach.
View of the beach from the railway tracks
Hadedas on the train tracks
Entrance of the path through the bush
Path from the train tracks to the beach
Fallen hibiscus on the path to the beach
Hadeda on the path exiting onto the beach
The way home via the beach
The beach route really works your muscles, walking in the loose sand and doing a little rock climbing in places. Then we still have to cross the main road and walk up a steep hill to get home. The last part we completed in short stages and took some time out to rest along the way. This has been our daily routine for the past few months since we moved here and the neighbors in the area are used to us sitting on their sidewalks, sipping from our water bottles.
Back at our gate and very tired, my daughter says rather crossly: ‘That was no daily constitutional. You should have told the oldies that we are on bootcamp’.
Boot-Camp for Seniors! That fires the imagination! 🙂
It sounds like a happy meeting place! I rather like the idea.
Of course half of those that show up won’t remember why they were there, and the other half won’t remember what they were supposed to be doing…. hmmmm … I would fit right in! 🙂
You too, haha. Just as long as we do not forget our sense of humor.
Ek haal my Hoed afhaal vir julle
Ons geniet elke oomblik daarvan.
Oeps ek sien nou eers wat ek daar kwytraak… my een oog is op die TV Skuus!
Jy kan nog multitask? Good for you!
Wat ‘n wonderlike beskrywing! Die fotos is pragtig.
Klink heerlik Ek geniet die strand altyd vreeslik wanneer ek die voorreg het om daar te kom
Ek het regtig in ‘n halfwoestyn grootgeword en na drie jaar se verblyf hier, kan ek nog steeds nie genoeg kry van die strand nie.
Lovely story and very nice pictures of this phantastic area. I especially like the picture with the hibiscus flowers on the path 😁
Those are special! Thank you.
Dis taai voetjies, daai!
Ja maar die ou vel raak dun. Ek kan nie meer deur dubbeltjies loop soos in my jongdae nie.
Ek lees en my bene kry die ene rillings vir jou kaalvoetlopery. Jou stap is definitief bootcamp Hester!!!! Gaan ook nou my daaglikse 200 treë stappie “My daily constitutional” noem. 😊 Die fotos is mooi…. daardie een hibiscus blom pragtig!!!
Haha, het ons ‘n nuwe uitdrukking aangeneem? Dankie, dit is ‘n pragtige blom.
Ek het my man van die daily constitutional vertel…. toe ken hy dit. Hy is mos Engelsman sê hy 😕
En daar steel hy jou punchline! 😯 Ek het die uitdrukking leer ken uit die boeke van Jane Austen en die Brônte susters.
Nou hoe het ek dit gemis…. dit ook gelees Wys jou my vriendin wat al die jare biblioteketaresse was is reg…. classics kan oor en oor gelees word; onmoontlik om eerste keer alles in te neem. Juis besig om Mark Twain se reisverhale weer te lees…. hy laat my lag. Nou toe, hier klets ek en jy het werk om te doen.
Nee, ons hou net die servers aan die lewe – ons kliënte is met vakansie. My seun is hier en ons hou ook vakansie. Ons loop heeldag rond en eet alles wat ons sien.
Dis die lewe! Ongebonde en vry. Dis vir my ook heerlik om op my eie tyd my lopies te neem en dit te geniet. Daardie kaalvoet loop as kind, dubbeltjies of te nie, was ook spesiaal is dit nie? Geniet jou sommer net tyd terwyl almal vakansie hou. Komende week pas ek huis op en is vir my soos vakansie hou. Pragtige fotos wat n mens sommer saam met julle laat voel.
Dankie, dit lyk asof ons somer ook uiteindelik hier is, hoewel dit so aanmekaar reën. Vandag is die eerste dag van sonskyn in meer as ‘n week en ek gaan wasgoed doen 😳 Die kinders is vanoggend 3-uur uit op die diep see om vis te vang. Jy moet ook jou tydjie weg van die huis af terdeë geniet.
Dankie, gaan so maak.
Lovely little story – and images 🙂
Die daily constitutional id ‘n mensereg wat nie almal beskore is nie! Mag jy gereeld konstitusioneel wees in 2018 in al sy vorme.
Dankie vir die goeie wense!