The Great Indoors.

One thing Twila really likes is being outside. If she had her choice, I'm pretty sure she'd want to be outside anytime the weather was clement. Maybe she should have been a bear.

I've been outside, too. For instance, walking from my car into a store. It's entirely tolerable. If I want to spend time with my wife, though, which I do, often I have to be outside longer.

Sometimes we ride our bikes. We start from our house, pedal around awhile, then end up back at our house, tired and sweaty. I'm not sure I see the point.

Other times we hike. We put a lot of stress on our bodies, and often we suffer. I've blogged before how I feel about that.

I am a modern man. I take medicines, for example, because they're the main reason human life expectancy has gone from 18 to 79 years. And I like houses, which were invented to keep us comfortable. I don't see any reason to leave the pleasant environment of a house when I don't have to.

When you're inside, you don't need to wear raincoats or mittens. You don't need sunscreen. And the chances of being run over by a bus are exceedingly low. It seems like a win-win-win situation, to me. When someone, such as "guess who", suggests that we go outside, my first thought is, "Why would we want to do that?"

It's like retirement, in a way. Twila is already planning all the things we can do when her business winds down. I keep thinking about all the things we can *not* do.

In spite of differences like these, Twila and I get along wonderfully. I bought her a tandem, for example, so we can go bicycling and I don't have to pedal.

It's all about compromise.