ALi MY life until fairly recently, I’ve been as skin- ny as a rake. The big joke in school used to be: “If you turn sideways, you'll disappear.”’ Another great line was: “You’re so skinny we’!l have to tie you to a post so you won't blow away.’”’ My first marriage put a bit of weight on me, but only a few pounds over a decade. Heck, | } drank like a fish, quaffed dozens of cups of coffee and smoked three packs of cigarettes a day. “In Cuba, having a feast with a big fat hotel keeper, the subject turned to tummies, since I was obviously growing Bob Hunter @ strictly personal ® Oh yeah? Nature has all these little traps waiting, doesn’t she? About the time | began to nose up On the big four-zero, the cave under my ribs began to fill up with lard. 1 will never forget the shock the first time a shirt button pop- ped. Buttons had fallen off be- fore, or been torn away. But one had never popped. 1 was sitting in a train in Ger- many, actually, when this hap- pened. I looked down, astonish- ed, and there it was! A paunch! Growing on me. Help! one that might someday match even my host’s. He reflected on the day, many years before, when he simply decided to start thinking of himself as a fat man and enjoy it,” Even as late as my mid-30s J] weighed a mere 129 pounds. i That’s lightweight for a fellow who’s six feet one. . Something portentious hap- pened to me about then; I re- married and settled down and , carted another family. I guess domestic bliss did me in, although the fact that I stop- ped smoking no doubt had some- thing to do with it. In any event, as recently as seven years ago, when I began writing for the North Shore News, I was still gaunt enough to pen a column about ‘‘ectomor- phic pride,’ referring to my physical type. . The one nice thing about hav- ing been called ‘Toothpick’? all through elementary school was that at least I’d never have to worry about dieting, I wrote smugly. oer iNV City | |sponsors| | running feam NORTH VANCOUVER City’s Street Feet running team will be pounding the track for charity June 20 and city council has chip- ped in a pledge to the tune of $400. Money raised during the 24-hour relay race will go to the B.C. Lions Society for Disabled Childrea. Hoping to run 200 miles in 24 hours, the 20-person city team this year will run round the clock and wanis to raise $5,000 for the pro- vince-wide charity. Street Feet last $4,000 for the group. | Ald. Stella Jo Dean, still suf- fering from injuries suffered in a recent fall, praised the city team’s efforts to help the children’s chari- ty. “Now that I’m disabled 1 can feel the frustration of anyone who is disabled,’’ added Dean. year raised Classifieds Sell 986-6222 By the time my wife was hav- ing our second kid, my belly stayed bigger than hers until remarkably late in. the pregnancy. There were a lot of jokes about us both being pregnant. My constitution was entrench- ed, you could say. I began to adjust to it. This is the trouble with being a philoso- pher. You can _ rationalize anything if vou want. In Cuba, having a feast with a big fat hotelkeeper, the subject turned to tummies, since I was obviously growing one that might someday match even my host’s. He reflected on the day, many years before, when he simply decided to start thinking of himself as a fat man and enjoy it. He was, in fact, one of the happiest men I’ve ever met. What a job — being in charge of the food and booze in a Communist fa Thailand, I discovered that there were statues of the Buddha showing him thin and other statues showing him fat. Which was it? The answer is that during lean times, thin statues of the Buddha were carved, and during good timnes, fat ones. I'm told that in many cther countries, fatness is taken as a sign of success. I tried to think of it as a bulge of honor. I told myself that I had never really liked being “Toothpick”’ and that maybe I’d have more authority now that | had a manly midrift. It’s a good thing I have such a benign feeling about that gut. It has turned out to be more obstinate than one would have hoped. Sometimes you can almost hear the fat cells being material- ized. I’ve been on a war footing with it now for what seems like a long time, attacking it with bizarre diets, straining to avoid the high-calorie lifestyle, resisting nearly all temptation, and finding myself late at night fighting a hand that is grasping for the fridge handle, like Peter Sellers playing Dr. Strangelove. And then there’s the most hideous self-inflicted torment of them all: working out. Psychologically, I guess the worst of it is being seen in public in your jogging outfit. It is, as the optimists say, half-gone. A pessimist might remark that what remains unfor- tunately looks as solid as the hull of an overturned ship beached in sand, it’s a grim, lonely business, fighting flab. _ Ah well, at Jeast I’ve learned something out of this. I’ve learn- ed why people fight flab. Because it’s there. Subdivision gets nod AN ON-aguin, off-again plan for a single-family residential develop- ment proposed to be built at Berkley and Carnation in) North Vancouver District is on again. The move follows council's in- struction to staff Monday to begia the preparation of the necessary official community plan amend- ment and = rezoning bylaws to facilitate the 49-lot Tri-Power Homes Ltd. Riverside Terrace development. A public hearing addressing the latest proposal has been scheduled for July 13. Various housing layout and park siting options presented by plann- ing consultant Don Barcham were discussed at a May 27 information mecting attended by approximately 65 area residents. Residents attending favored an option providing for 49 lots with a minimum size of 7,200 square feet. The plan allows a 50-foot setback from the top of the area bank 10 the property lines which will pro- vide access to a small one-care view park. The plan also calls for future access to the middle bench from dendale Road and al! storm drainage and sewers to connect in- to existing Berkley Road systems. 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