Skip, Skip, Skip to M' Lou

Skipping looks like fun, but it's a bear of an exercise>

I saw her coming maybe 150 yards away and couldn't figure out the gait. It was jerky, bouncy and the feet seemed to splay to the side on occasion. As she drew closer, the woman running behind her combined with her outline and created something of an optical illusion, splitting, combining, running, bouncing, moving all over the place.

Finally, I figured out that the lead woman was skipping and that another, younger woman, was behind her, running and occasionally skipping, as well. I don't think they were together because they didn't speak even as the younger woman ran past the skipper, having tried to skip, but realizing that it was a bit more than she wanted to chew.

Skipping, frankly, is a bit more than many of us can do for more than a few steps. It's an almost full-body exercise that this Web site will tell you all about. I mention it because in an early-spring day of delight and surprise, watching this woman smile and skip by me on the greenway was a real highlight. "That's impressive!" I exclaimed as she passed me and her smile widened.

And, hey, just for the hell of it, go to this Web site and listen to the little song as people skip.