all rain and no move makes alex a dull boy
Another day. I tried meditating for a bit after waking up, but since everyone else is awake and wandering about, I don't feel so comfortable; maybe I'd need to wake up a little earlier. We did the walk, but shortly after there were very heavy rains; thus, we stayed under the barn, learning how to build some hive support for the bees. It's always nice to have some deeper conversations with Nataša and Daniele, but when it is so early in the morning, I feel my body craves movement and exercise – otherwise, it's hard not to fall into some lazyness. At some point the rain stopped, and we managed to do some physical work: raking and collecting the grass near the walnut trees, at the farthest point of the farm. We did it quickly. Then, we moved onto the nettles.
being acquainted with nettles and currant
The nettles, the nettles. From the table where we usually have lunch with Nataša and Daniele, we see a plant growing wildly, with a height of around a meter a and half. Everybody seemed to know it before, but I had no idea what nettles were. At some point, we realised their seeds could be harvested – it's apparently some sort of super food – and so it went into our plans.
Now, what I did not realise was that it sort of burns, and I was just terribly lucky to start wearing a long sleeve shirt because of the high sun; otherwise, it would have been a disaster. I had some slight brushes off it, and it wasn't pleasant. Some moments later, my foot lightly touched one another, and I had a burning feeling for a couple of hours after.
When everyone else noticed I was unaware of the nature of nettles, safe to say it produced some flabbergasted reactions: it felt obvious to everyone that I'd be aware of this. Well, Paula and Hanna come from two very geographical close countries, and there's frequently some comments among German, Polish and Slovene, in which Nataša also partakes: I was supposing this proximity would be the reason for them knowing what nettles were.
In fact, this had already happened with some other fruit we have on the farm: blackcurrant. Daniele doesn't find it to be too common in Italy, but they three were very aware of it, and I had never seen it in Portugal before. So, I inquired Daniele: do they had nettles in Italy?
"You mean urtica?"; and, of course – we have urtiga in Portugal. I felt so stupid. And now I also realise where urticária comes from. I suppose I am, in essence, a true city boy; and then we had an interesting conversation about botanism, and all that. To top it off, I now learned that currant is our groselha: I still don't think it's common to have plantations of it in Portugal, or maybe it is and I don't know; in any case, I've only come across it in concentrated juice form, and I'm not a fan. Lesson learned!
more strength training
During our free afternoon, I did the usual stuff: I had a Slovene session – and I'm getting almost to the end of Andrea Albretti's book! –, and then I spent some time reading Overcoming Gravity, a book on calisthenics and strength training.
It has been on my mind for a while – many months now, in fact – that I should do some more specific strength training. The climbing I do every now and then and the yoga routine are not enough. There are many reasons for my nudging into having an appreciation for strength training: one was not so ago, during Huberman's conversation with Tim Ferriss; it then led me into the Built to Move book, which very quickly and succinctly made the case for having fitness and mobility under consideration as important metrics for healthy living; and more recently I've also listened to Huberman's conversation with Andy Galpin, which establishes some lower thresholds for general fitness. The benefits are just so immense: healthier living, healthier body, healthier mind; and, of course, the byproducts of it in the form of more strength.
Overcoming Gravity is very dense, however, and maybe a little too technical and overwhelming for the phase I'm at – I just want to do something. Luckily, there was a reference to the r/bodyweightfitness subreddit, and they have a begginer plan; so that's what I'll do for the time-being. Might as well be moving towards a goal, albeit slowly, than being paralyzed by the sheer amount of information and technicalities (but, of course, making the exercises with the correct form, etc.). Thus, today I had what I'd consider to be my second strength/bodyweight/calisthenics training, after the first one.