Written by: Dr Lynn Anderson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Being fit and healthy is a good thing and essential for everyday functioning and quality of life. But sometimes life presents you with a situation where being fit really, really matters. You never know when a challenge will come your way. Try as we might, we can’t always predict the fate life will bring us.
On a recent fateful trip to Maine, I arrived just a few hours before a Nor’easter hit.
A Nor’easter is a storm along the East Coast of North America. It is called a Nor’easter because the winds over the coastal area are typically from the northeast. High winds and snowfall are unnecessary for a storm to be a Nor’easter. It is simply any storm that brings northerly winds. However, when you combine it with snowfall, it is a sure bet that driving will be hazardous.
Being brought up on the coast of Maine, I had experienced a few Nor’easters. Most Maine people take them in stride and are prepared to weather the storm.
After living in Los Angeles for forty years and now residing in Florida, it has been many years since I experienced a real Nor’easter.
Why would I travel to Maine only to get caught in Nor’easter? Well, I have an elderly Dad in Maine, and he needed me to assist with getting him safely settled for the long winter ahead.
The trip had been planned weeks in advance. Fortunately, I flew in about three hours before the storm started. I got some sleep, knowing I had to get up early to visit my dad. The next day, we woke to about three inches of snow. The conditions were not bad, and the prediction was it would pick up late afternoon. So, we calculated the distance, time, and weather and started the drive to visit my dad.
The highway trip was not as bad as it was early in the storm. Our calculations told us that we had a few hours before we would need to get off the road and, as they say in Maine, “hunker down” and wait out the storm.
The storm started to pick up, so we left my dad and headed for our hotel, 26 miles away.
The highway was snow-packed but relatively clear due to the plowing. My husband was driving. The snowfall began to pick up, and ice began to form on the windshield. The storm had picked up speed. It was now a blizzard. We took it slow as the plows could not keep up with the snowfall.
Suddenly, things changed, and we found ourselves in a whiteout when visibility was almost impossible so that the road and landmarks became almost indistinguishable. Because we could not see the road, we slid off the highway and into a large snowbank near the guardrails. We were stuck with snow up to the window on the driver's side of the car, making it impossible for my husband to get out. Now, what were we going to do? Caught in a blizzard buried in a snowbank on the side of the road, we looked at each other with dismay. Fortunately, the car was still running, so we had heat, but our phone service was weak.
A very nice young man with a snow plow stopped to see if he could help. He attempted to pull us out of the snowbank only to get himself stuck. Now, we were all in trouble. He sat in his truck about three hundred feet away. Not sure what to do, I figured it best to speak to him and hope he could call a local tow service to come and rescue us.
The only way to reach him was to get out of the car and make my way through the snow drifts to his truck. I opened the door and immediately stepped into a snowdrift up to my knees. The cold wind was slapping the snow against my face, visibility was poor, and it was damn cold, but I was committed. I guessed if I ran fast through the snowbank, I could stay warm, and I could get to the truck, ask for his help, and then make it back to my car before the storm swallowed me up.
If you have ever tried to run through foot-deep snowdrifts with Ugg boots, you will know that they fill up with snow, weighing you down and making your feet very cold and wet. But I was committed. So, at the age of seventy-one, in the midst of a Nor’easter, I ran as fast as I could, falling three times into the snow, getting back up, and finally reaching his truck. He was calling a towing service, so all was good, but now I had to get back to my car, which meant another run through the snow banks. I turned and attempted to follow my footsteps back to the car, but again, with my Ugg boots full of snow and the storm slashing at my face, it was not easy. But I told myself I was in good shape for a woman my age. I have committed the last forty years to teaching and practicing health and fitness, and this is one of those times when it paid off. I ran back to the car, threw off my boots and socks, and warmed my feet on the car heater.
The first thing I have learned from life is that your health and fitness are wealth. In life, you can’t always predict the outcome of a storm. The best you can do at any age is stay fit and healthy because fitness matters in life when it comes to survival.
To learn more about Kamra and for classes and books, visit my website.
Dr Lynn Anderson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Doctor Lynn is a Naturopath, yoga nutrition therapist, fitness professional, karma master, published author, international speaker and video producer with over 40 years’ experience in the field of natural health and fitness. She has been featured in Redbook, Reader’s Digest, Huffington Post, Shape, SELF and various other national publications, TV networks and Podcasts. She is the author and producer of the Soul Walking series; Karma, Prosperity, Vitality and The Naturopathic Wellness Series; The Yoga of Nutrition and Recipes for Health, Sex, Happiness and Love; and Doctor Lynn’s Proactive-Aging Workouts; DVDs and TV with international distribution; CEC author, Burnout – it happens to all of us.
