Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, aware that the keeper’s old eyes are prone to mischief, witnessed him—the keeper, puzzling over a distant scene of hillside activity that he could not identify until he used binoculars to see a dozen or so small children rolling down a grassy slope under the watchful supervision of several adults.
It was a wonderful scene in the sunshine of an unseasonably warm morning, and it made the keeper want to grab Phyllis and go join the kids in their hill rolling, never mind aches and pains and the challenge of resuming an upright posture.
Rolling down a hill is, of course, one of life’s delightful activities and need not be restricted by physical circumstances or age. In fact, the keeper’s cursory research turned up info about the group of senior citizens in Singapore whose members roll down a hill every day as “a therapeutic act to cure ills,” their reasoning being that it “helps the body absorb much needed negative ions in the earth.”
The elderly Singapore citizens claim that rolling down a hill relieves stress and improves their mood.
That’s enough for the keeper: “Here we go, Phyllis! We’ll take along a hiking staff to help get things back together at the bottom of the hill.”
