Five years ago, Londonderry on the Tred Avon CEO, Irma Toce, approached new resident, Chuck Andrews, and asked if he would plant a community garden. To her delight, and the delight of his fellow residents, he said “yes.”

It didn’t take long for the garden to be known as “Mr. Chuck’s Garden,” and over the years it has become a fixture on the Londonderry campus. Each summer, the entire community looks forward to the ripening tomatoes and maturing herbs, knowing that they will soon be enjoying them in dishes prepared by Londonderry’s Head Chef and Director of Dining Services, Chelsea Coombs.

“We all love Mr. Chuck’s Garden,” said Coombs. “This year has been a great season for basil, so we’ve had a lot of pesto dishes and marinara sauce. We also love the cherry tomatoes on our garden salads and tomato slices on sandwiches and hamburgers. We’ve also used other herbs to flavor and garnish roast chicken and other dishes. We use it all!”

Residents have also been known to snack on a few tomatoes as they walk by and trim bits of basil and other herbs for their own home cooking.

The garden is carefully planted and tended by Andrews, a Master Gardener, who can be found weeding almost daily. Once the summer crops have finished for the season, Andrews plants pansies and decorative cabbages for the fall, and there are daffodils in the Spring.

In addition to supplying the kitchen and residents with excellent produce, Andrews also supplies many laughs at resident meetings where his humorous garden reports liven up the agenda.

Andrews has always been a gardener, having created and maintained his own landscaping at his California home when he wasn’t busy at his day job as a high school English teacher and later, school counselor, in the Los Angeles area.

After retiring from his 36-year career as an educator, Andrews trained to become a Master Gardener in California and brought that knowledge with him to Londonderry when he and his wife, Susan, relocated to Easton in 2016 to be closer to their son and his young family.

“I didn’t waste any time asking Chuck to head-up a garden project, and I am so glad I did,” said Londonderry on the Tred Avon CEO Irma Toce. “The garden has thrived under Chuck’s care and become a beloved part of our campus. As the constant teacher, Chuck has taught us many gardening lessons while we share belly laughs and a delicious tomato.”

Anyone for a stroll on the beach?  I would say most people would find that appealing, but not everyone may know all the associated health benefits of walking in the sand. So, I’ve listed a few to motivate you on your next trip to the beach!

1.  Strength Training: Sand provides natural resistance to strengthen toes, ankles, and calves. Scientists have shown that it takes 2.1 to 2.7 times more energy to walk on sand than it does to move at the same pace on hard surfaces.  That energy is used to strengthen all the muscles of your feet and back, calves, quadriceps, and glutes. The dryer the sand, the harder the work. And, your foot can experience a full range of motion in the sand.

2. Greater Calorie Burn: The energy used to strengthen all those muscles had to come from somewhere…according to Berkeley Wellness, you can expect to burn about 50% more calories by walking on sand than on paved ground.

3. Improved Proprioception: Basically, good walking proprioception means your mind is in touch with the stimuli coming from your feet. This helps to connect you with the world around you and walking barefoot in the sand is a wonderful way to do tap into that neuromuscular activity. After all, you have as many as 7,000 nerve endings in each of your feet. Just think about feeling all those grains under the sensitive part of your arch or between your toes!

4. Stress Reduction: Sand conforms to your feet without restricting them, so it’s like a walking foot massage…and it is free!

5. Grounding/Earthing: The theory behind grounding or earthing is that electrical energy from the earth can be absorbed through your feet when you walk barefoot, especially on wet or moist sand which then may lead to a multitude of benefits. Even if you are not sold on this theory, few would disagree that walking barefoot (without your cell phone) can be a meditative activity that will help you feel mentally grounded and centered.

6. Natural Exfoliant: Wet sand acts as an exfoliant that helps peel dead skin cells from your body.  Try walking in the loose sand first and then wander into the path of shallow waves to wash it off.

7. Vitamin and Mineral Boost: Besides reaping the many benefits of Vitamin D from being in the sun, like calcium absorption, autoimmune response, and mood, it has also been found that it leads to reduced stress and improved sleep and appetite. On top of that, if you are on a salty beach, then the water also contains a multitude of healthy minerals like magnesium, potassium, and iodine.  Many of these minerals are used in topical anti-aging products, so why not step into the waves and get a free dose?

8. Gait analysis: Curious about your foot strike? A simple glance at your footsteps in the sand can tell you quite a bit. Wherever you see a deep indentation is where you are striking the ground.  For instance, if you see a heavy imprint from both the heel and the toe, then you may be landing on the heel, rolling to the toes and pushing off too harshly. This information would more likely appeal to runners than walkers, but interesting nonetheless.

Enjoy your day at the beach!

Susan S. Covey is the Director of Health and Fitness Bayleigh Chase-Acts

 

Did you know you can get all the cardiovascular, muscle strengthening and flexibility benefits you need in water? Done correctly, water workouts can give you the same fitness gains as land workouts, including improving balance.

Water’s buoyancy supports the body’s weight and significantly reduces stress on weight-bearing joints, bones and muscles. For those with injuries, the pressure of the water also reduces swelling. If the water is warm, then the heat relaxes muscles and eases joint stiffness.

We all need resistance training to keep us from losing muscle and strength as we age. Water offers that resistance which strengthens our muscles as we move through it. And get this, simply walking in water will strengthen those hard-to-work abdominal muscles! That not only beats doing sit-ups but may offer greater benefits because the abdominal muscles are being strengthened in the same way we naturally use them—by holding our bodies in an upright position.

Water workouts can help us reach our fitness goals without pain or injury. They can add cross-training variety to our existing routine or offer a safe and fun way to start an exercise program.

So, come on in, the water’s fine!

Susan Covey is the Director of Health and Fitness at Acts-Bayleigh Chase in Easton

Like most people, you’ve probably heard that activity and exercise are good for you. The frailty and decreased energy often associated with aging is largely due to muscle loss.  (Here’s where I can’t resist adding the old adage “Use it or lose it”.)  So true.  

Being physically active on a daily basis is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.  As a matter of fact, exercise is THE key to maintaining your mobility and prolonging your INDEPENDENCE!  It is central to daily functioning…think about it.  Your daily activities like getting out of bed, rising up out of a chair, standing in the shower, carrying groceries, walking down the hall.  They all require strength and energy, and one of the best ways to keep muscles healthy and strong and to increase the body’s vigor is with mobility-enhancing exercises.  Also called strength training or resistance training, these exercises are among the best ways to fight weakness and frailty that can come with age.  If done regularly they will build bone and muscle, and help preserve your INDEPENDENCE.

So, let’s make our founding fathers proud, take back our freedom of movement and refuse to surrender to the tyranny of aging!  We may be born into a life of liberty, but we must not ever remain idle. After all, the key to INDEPENDENCE (and therefore happiness) lies in the pursuit.

Susan S. Covey is the Director of Community Center for Health and Fitness at Bayleigh Chase-Acts

There was a day when metropolitan newspapers published several editions a day.  

That meant reporters could cover a breaking news event, write about it, and then update it, with more information, for the next edition, or the one after that. 

 I faced that situation on my first day as a general assignment reporter for the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News.   

I had been sent to a fire in the city. Somewhat nervous but with notepad in hand, I went to the site—an abandoned building– and obtained the basic details from the fire chief on duty—the who, what, when, where and how elements, basic to all good reporting. But I was facing a deadline for the paper’s first edition. I did not believe I had enough information or time to write the whole story by the deadline. 

That’s when the City Editor admonished me not to worry, just use the information I had. “Go with what you’ve got,” he said. More details could be added in subsequent editions.  

For those of us in the country’s “aging population,” isn’t “going with what we’ve got” good advice for lots of circumstances, especially those involving physical challenges?

Go with what we’ve got….

If sight or hearing is diminished,

If legs aren’t as strong as they used to be,

If joints ache 

If energy levels aren’t up to snuff,

If balance is a challenge, 

Or breathing is difficult,

If chronic pain persists,

If tremors or dizziness annoy us,

Or lapses of memory frustrate us, 

Let’s resolve to “go with what we’ve got.”   

Do the very best we can with today’s story. 

There will be time to add more paragraphs tomorrow. 

Just do it. 

Ross Jones is a former vice president and secretary emeritus of The Johns Hopkins University. He joined the University in 1961 as assistant to President Milton S. Eisenhower. A 1953 Johns Hopkins graduate, he later earned a Master’s Degree at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Whether you are trying to do pull-ups, carrying luggage or opening a stubborn jar, a strong grip is important in a variety of exercises as well as everyday activities. What you may not realize is that your grip may also be indicative of overall health. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that grip strength is a predictor of muscular endurance and overall bodily strength. Other studies have found that a stronger grip correlates with a lower risk of heart attack and stroke. Researchers say the findings definitely suggest a link between heart health and muscle strength.

Because general hand health is important, extension as well as flexion in the fingers, you may need to build the muscles on both the top side and palm side of your hands.

Exercising all parts of your hand will also help you avoid creating an imbalance between the muscles that help you open and close your hands. And, because overworking only the muscles used to closed your hands, could lead to tendonitis, try strengthening both sides of your mitts by shoving your hand into a bowl of warm uncooked rice or sand and extend and flex your fingers.

There are actually three types of grip strength, namely crush, pinch and support. Each one lends itself to the overall sturdiness of your grasp. The crush grip is the strength between your fingers and your palm, which helps you shake hands or crumple up a piece of paper. The pinch grip is the strength between your fingers and thumb, the one used to grab a piece of paper, for instance. The ability to hold onto something such as a bag handle for a long period of time, is called support grip.

How can you improve your grip? Here are a few simple moves:

Place a dumbbell in your hand and then let it roll down your hand and catch it with the tip of your fingers.

Gripper squeeze: Using a hand gripper/exerciser or a stress ball you may have at home, flex your fingers into your palm and out for twenty seconds.

Newspaper roll: After you’ve read the Sunday paper, place your hand on top of one sheet, pulling the paper in with your fingertips until you roll the paper into a ball.

Pinch moves: Press each fingertip to your thumbs and hold a few seconds, then open your fingers in a stretched position for a few seconds and proceed to the next finger and thumb, etc.

Susan Covey is the director of Health and Fitness at Acts Bayleigh Chase