OPINION -- Wore Out
By Gene Price
Published in News on November 22, 2004 2:09 PM
GOOSE CREEK ISLAND -- Rummaging through the jumble of the disorganized "library" of my camp to find something to read -- make that "re-read," I came across a yellowed copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac.
It was yellowed, tattered, brittle and a bit bug-eaten. The date was 1974, the price 60 cents.
The Old Farmer's Almanac began publication in 1792 and has offered interesting, useful and entertaining reading for all 212 years since then.
Probably many farmers today still use the Almanac's planting tables and some continue to put great stock in its weather forecasts. The little booklet also has recipes, tide tables and astronomical calculations, along with some interesting ads. In a turn-about from today's messages, this one had an advertisement offering "Wate-On" that would help young women "put pounds and inches" on their skinny figures.
The 1792 version also had an article in its "Anecdotes and Pleasantries" section by Mrs. Henry Josephs that was especially interesting, as well as intriguing since I still ponder who took the time to do the research.
The title was "Tired?"
And the article noted that if you are an adult of "average age," then in a 24-hour period:
Your heart beats 103,689 times.
You breathe 23,040 times.
You inhale 438 cubic feet of air. (And presumably exhale a similar load.)
You eat three and a half pounds of food.
You drink two quarts of liquid.
You lose 7/8ths of a pound of waste.
You speak 4,800 words.
You move 750 muscles.
Your nails grow .00046 inch.
Your hair grows .01717 inch.
You exercise 7,000,000 brain cells.
Whew!
Try doing that when you're on the verge of 76! No wonder I feel so "wore out."
After reading that, I rolled up in my sleeping bag and fell into an exhausted and well-earned sleep on the porch of my camp.
What do I want for Christmas? Just send Geritol!