Upper Body Strength Rev 1

I have no upper body strength. I mean no significant upper body strength. I can lift a 11 year old 55 pound dog into an SUV, I can lift a 48 lb bag of dog food long enough to pour it in its airtight container in the garage. I can haul potting soil or mulch from the car into the yard, and it turns out, I can stay on top of a camel while it is standing up or sitting down without landing on my head or ending up on my ass in the sand. I know, I’ve done it. I’ve watched a bunch of other people do that too, many heavier, and much less fit than I am. Maybe the camels have been trained so if peopl’es butts leave the saddle/blanket thing, it stands up or sits down faster.


I love to sail. I decided it would be really cool to crew on the Star of India, a tall ship moored on the bay in San Diego. I signed up for an orientation session, which was held one evening on that ferryboat that houses the maritime museum. On the designated night I arrived, and found the room filled with about 300 people, many of them retired military. I sat through the presentation, realizing that the crew has to climb way up there to work with the sails. I’m not afraid of heights per se, but I’m not “sure footed” so I think that I probably am not the right profile for this volunteer gig.

The thing that cinched the decision was the requirement that you must be able to hang by one arm for some period of time, like 2 minutes. it didn’t sound like much, but I knew it was impossible for me. I would dislocate my shoulder, at the very least, if not my back. On top of the physical requirements, you also had to volunteer every week to maintain the ship, and then the real crew would vote to decide who gets to crew when the boat leaves its berth once or twice a year. I doubt if I can be a happy worker for that long with someone else telling me what to do in my spare time.

©2010 sharonjcorrigan

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