Leisure Activities
(Be sure to check out our cycling page as well!)
Hiking
Sarah at Hurricane Ridge, WA state
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Photo courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studio
Sarah's hiking outfit was inspired by the dress Fay Fuller wore in 1890 when she became the first woman to summit Mt. Rainier - the highest mountain in our state. To read more about Miss Fuller, visit: http://mtn.tpl.lib.wa.us/climbs/climbing/people/fuller.asp
Fay Fuller, 1890. Image courtesy: http://mtn.tpl.lib.wa.us/climbs/climbing/people/fuller.asp
Hiking slideshow:
For details of an adventure that involved both hiking and cycling, read about our trip on the Trail of the Coeur D'Alene's!
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/blog/our-vacation-on-the-trail-of-the-coeur-dalenes
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Exploration of the natural world
The Victorians were passionate about learning the whys and wherefores of the natural world - and so are we! Fossil hunting, visiting natural history museums, seeing wildlife shelters and discussing interesting matters with our favorite research scientists are fun ways we indulge in the Victorian obsession with the natural sciences.
The photo above with the owl was taken when we did a fundraising event for a local wildlife shelter. Athena the owl had been taken in by the shelter after being hit by a car and losing the ability to fly. Barred owls eat small songbirds, and Athena thought that Sarah's hat should be her lunch! She lost interest in us when she understood we wouldn't give her the hat.
If you are as curious about science as we are, you might enjoy these short 19th-century articles about pioneer scientist Mary Anning - one of the world's first fossil hunters, and discoverer of the pterodactyl!
The Fossil Finder of Lyme Regis
The Little Fossil Gatherer (article in an 1869 children's magazine)
The photo above with the owl was taken when we did a fundraising event for a local wildlife shelter. Athena the owl had been taken in by the shelter after being hit by a car and losing the ability to fly. Barred owls eat small songbirds, and Athena thought that Sarah's hat should be her lunch! She lost interest in us when she understood we wouldn't give her the hat.
If you are as curious about science as we are, you might enjoy these short 19th-century articles about pioneer scientist Mary Anning - one of the world's first fossil hunters, and discoverer of the pterodactyl!
The Fossil Finder of Lyme Regis
The Little Fossil Gatherer (article in an 1869 children's magazine)
Slideshow of a fossil hunting trip:
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Sandow Routine (Gabriel)
Gabriel's daily workout is based on a routine described in Eugen Sandow's 1897 book Strength and How to Obtain It.
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Swimming (Gabriel)
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Picnics
"Picnic Days: ... [L]ong, happy days will be spent in the shaded woods, pleasant in social intercourse, merry with jest and song... as in no other banqueting hall..."
— From "The New Bill of Fare." "Table Talk." August, 1895. p. 272.
— From "The New Bill of Fare." "Table Talk." August, 1895. p. 272.
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Massage
Humans have used various forms of touch to facilitate health throughout recorded history. From the early instinct to "rub" a sore spot, to modern therapeutic techniques, massage has long been part of the human experience.
The first person to apply scientific principles to massage was a Swede by the name of Pehr (sometimes anglicized as Peter) Henrik Ling. Ling developed a number of techniques to promote health through movement, and was instrumental in legitimizing massage amongst medical and scientific circles, as well as introducing its benefits to the general public. Hailed as "The Movement Cure" in the nineteenth century, Ling's techniques were developed by later massage practitioners into a modality which they termed "Swedish Massage", partially to add mystique to the treatment by associating it with an exotic land, and partially to honor its originator, known as the "Father of Massage."
Born in 1776 in Smaaland, Sweden, as a young man Ling suffered from intense rheumatism while performing military service under inclement conditions in Europe. Later he found that the pain of this condition was reduced and finally eliminated through the excercise and training involved in his study of fencing. When he later taught fencing himself at the University of Lund, Sweden, he incorporated a number of gymnastics movements into the training regimen. He was particularly interested in the utility and effects of passive and active stretching movements. As he perfected old movement techniques and established new ones, Ling's focus began to shift slightly from the use of movement for the purpose of perfecting military prowess, to its use in the treatment of disease and injury. The underlying philosophy of Ling's Swedish movement cure, as described by near contemporary Kurre W. Ostrom, is as follows: In order to achieve and maintain maximum health, it is neccessary for the full range of motion to be experienced by all muscles. This simple idea formed the basis for modern massage as it is known by most people.
To Ling's original system of "movements" or "gymnastics" was eventually added a number of strokes which, from the client's perspective, are strictly passive: effleurage, petrissage, friction, tapotement, and vibration. Whether Ling himself developed these techniques is a matter which has long been debated; certain scholars prefer to attribute them to Dr. Johan George Mezger of Holland (Ostrom, Borseth, worldmassageforum.com). Certainly, early drawings of Ling's gymnastic techniques do seem markedly different from contemporary presentations of techniques such as petrissage.
Modern Swedish massage focuses largely on relaxation, although it does have significant benefits in the realm of physical therapy as well. A 2008 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Excercise describes an animal research study in which compression techniques intended to mimic those involved in modern Swedish massage were proven to aid repair of muscle tissue after injury. Swedish techniques have a great deal of importance in sports massage as well; at sporting events masseurs can often be seen performing these techniques on athletes in order to flush out fatigue toxins from muscles.
The first person to apply scientific principles to massage was a Swede by the name of Pehr (sometimes anglicized as Peter) Henrik Ling. Ling developed a number of techniques to promote health through movement, and was instrumental in legitimizing massage amongst medical and scientific circles, as well as introducing its benefits to the general public. Hailed as "The Movement Cure" in the nineteenth century, Ling's techniques were developed by later massage practitioners into a modality which they termed "Swedish Massage", partially to add mystique to the treatment by associating it with an exotic land, and partially to honor its originator, known as the "Father of Massage."
Born in 1776 in Smaaland, Sweden, as a young man Ling suffered from intense rheumatism while performing military service under inclement conditions in Europe. Later he found that the pain of this condition was reduced and finally eliminated through the excercise and training involved in his study of fencing. When he later taught fencing himself at the University of Lund, Sweden, he incorporated a number of gymnastics movements into the training regimen. He was particularly interested in the utility and effects of passive and active stretching movements. As he perfected old movement techniques and established new ones, Ling's focus began to shift slightly from the use of movement for the purpose of perfecting military prowess, to its use in the treatment of disease and injury. The underlying philosophy of Ling's Swedish movement cure, as described by near contemporary Kurre W. Ostrom, is as follows: In order to achieve and maintain maximum health, it is neccessary for the full range of motion to be experienced by all muscles. This simple idea formed the basis for modern massage as it is known by most people.
To Ling's original system of "movements" or "gymnastics" was eventually added a number of strokes which, from the client's perspective, are strictly passive: effleurage, petrissage, friction, tapotement, and vibration. Whether Ling himself developed these techniques is a matter which has long been debated; certain scholars prefer to attribute them to Dr. Johan George Mezger of Holland (Ostrom, Borseth, worldmassageforum.com). Certainly, early drawings of Ling's gymnastic techniques do seem markedly different from contemporary presentations of techniques such as petrissage.
Modern Swedish massage focuses largely on relaxation, although it does have significant benefits in the realm of physical therapy as well. A 2008 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Excercise describes an animal research study in which compression techniques intended to mimic those involved in modern Swedish massage were proven to aid repair of muscle tissue after injury. Swedish techniques have a great deal of importance in sports massage as well; at sporting events masseurs can often be seen performing these techniques on athletes in order to flush out fatigue toxins from muscles.
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Tales of Chetzemoka
A Rapping At The Door:
A Victorian Cycling Club Suspense Story
(Fiction)
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For words of wit and advice sage,
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