Evolution

My parents are in Los Angeles. (Pray for me.) I kinda like visitors because it gives me free reign to be a tourist. A typical American tourist in my own town. It’s very freeing. You get to dress badly, act a little crazy, and laugh like you’re never going to see any of these people again…and, really, I probably won’t. I like the bus tours, the amusement parks, and eating out at semi-good restaurants that charge way too much for draft beer. I like taking goofy pictures with my loved ones. I like making them take the goofy picture because, in spite of themselves, they usually get a laugh out of it later. (I know I do.) But what I probably like the best is how tired I am at the end of the day and how my body feels the next day.

People are not made to be sedate. I often imagine that if we keep going on the way we are, we will evolve into Gollum-looking creatures. Our metabolisms will have sped up because we will require less food, but consume more. We will have curved backs, pasty skin, and long, long fingers due to the numerous hours spent inside and hunched over a computer keyboard. And our consumer culture will have infected our psyches to the point where we will be greedy, greedy, greedy. (Oh wait! We already are!) Anyway, we are currently far away from our nomadic days, but I find that I still feel better after a whole day of walking – like traversing the theme parks and even those charity walks like March-of-Dimes ( I’ve always wanted to do that Avon Breast Cancer Three Day Walk for the Cure.) – than spending a couple hours at the gym where I inevitably end up like I finished an unappealing task.

Today, I’m back behind a computer. My legs feel solid, my back feels stretched, and I feel relaxed. And while I’m grateful for the respite, I’m looking forward to Wednesday when I drag them down to Anaheim! Hmm, do you think I can get Frank to pose with Grumpy?