Fall Planting Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Debra decided to do a little fall planting this weekend. “A little” should probably have been our first clue.

A few plants turned into cleaning out beds, pulling weeds, moving pots, hauling things around and doing all those other little jobs you suddenly notice once you're already dirty.

Several hours later, the yard looked great.

Debra did not. 😂

Her back hurt. Her legs hurt. Her shoulders hurt. Apparently, there are muscles involved in planting flowers that she had completely forgotten existed.

And this is a woman who runs and lifts weights, so there was a certain amount of indignation involved.

How can planting flowers make you this sore?

Turns out, pretty easily.

Apparently, Yard Work Has a Leg Day

Think about what you're actually doing when you work in the yard. Squatting, bending, reaching, kneeling, lifting bags of soil, carrying pots and repeatedly getting up and down off the ground.

By the team's estimate, she probably did the equivalent of about 100 squats.

Then there's the thing we all do where something is just out of reach and, rather than standing up and walking three feet to get it, we contort ourselves into a position no human body was designed to occupy.

Because obviously that's easier.

And Then Coco Got Out

Coco is an indoor cat.

Not an indoor-most-of-the-time cat. Not an indoor-unless-the-weather-is-nice cat.

Indoor.

Apparently, Coco did not get that memo.

At some point during all the coming and going, she made her escape, and suddenly we had another project: retrieve the cat.

Of course, Coco thought this was fabulous. There was dirt. There were plants. There were smells. There were things to investigate.

Meanwhile, the humans who had already spent hours working in the yard were now chasing an unauthorized furry garden assistant.

Eventually, Coco was returned to the house, where we discovered another problem.

On her pristine, house-only fur.

This was unacceptable.

Not to Coco, obviously. Coco seemed quite pleased with herself.

So now the day's yard work also included cleaning a dirty cat who had absolutely no regrets about any of her decisions.

Recovery Was No Longer Optional

At this point, recovery was no longer optional. 😂

Fortunately, being sore when you work at Muscle Rehab is a little like being hungry in a grocery store. There are options.

A hot bath sounded particularly good.

So did drinking some water, stretching a little and, perhaps most importantly, not going back outside to finish the rest of the yard.

The remaining plants can wait.

The weeds aren't going anywhere.

And Coco has been returned to her regularly scheduled indoor programming.

Sometimes movement looks like a run or a workout.

Sometimes it looks like dirt under your fingernails, aching legs and trying to remove half the backyard from a cat who isn't supposed to know what the backyard looks like.