The best exercise is something anyone can do, even a Pooh Bear or an Eeyore.

While walking across a bridge in “The House at Pooh Corner”, Winnie the Pooh inadvertently drops a fir-cone he’s carrying off one side, seeing it fall into the stream below and then drift out on the other side.

Rather than wrestling with disappointment, Pooh drops in two more fir-cones at the same time, creating a competition. Soon Piglet, Rabbit and Roo join in, using sticks instead of fir-cones, and thus “Poohsticks” was born.
Sounds simple enough, right? But exercise?

Try it sometime: find a young friend (or a grandchild or two) and head to the Duck Pond in East Hampton; walk up the path to the bridges in back and collect a stick or two along the way. Toss those in on one side and see which comes out the other first.

Now bend down, grab your stick and do it, again. Repeat. Do it a few times more.

It’s the perfect exercise: there’s bending, twisting and quick movements, but no pounding.

Best of all, there’s sure to be a lot of laughter.

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