Alison Brundage

[alison brundage]

Early 70's.   Learning how to spin wool from my neighbor Maria Jacinta.  She was my adopted mother in the mountains of So Colombia.  She taught me everything I needed to know  to get started as a proper indian woman.  Indiginous group Guambianos.  We lived up there in the mountains of So Colombia for 1 1/2 yr in a house we bought.  No running water, no electricity, 2 1/2 acres of land.  Price $1600.00








(Those are my parents.  Dad, a Jewish businessman had a hard time wrapping his head around all this.  To him a great vacation was to smoke a good cigar in the lobby of a Miami Hotel)...LOL

STRONG women these indians. They are the work-horses of the family.  They spun all the wool for the material they wove in order to make all their clothes..men women and children.   They carried the men's tools, their baby and spun wool at the same time while walking  2 1/2 hours up into the mountains...barefoot ( it was cold) before the crack of dawn.  On the way down the men carried the tools, the women then carried about 75 lb of potatoes PLUS the baby on their back while spinning wool as they walked down the mountain.  The toughness of these women taught me a great deal about what exactly a woman could accomplish in many regards...strength one..... determination another
ALISON.

[alison brundage]

[size=78%][URL=https://imageshack.com/i/f3lzumj]

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It's coffee picking season and workers are now out picking beans.    They receive $3.00 to pick 3 gallons of red beans ( not much dough).  Many live in shacks and have no electricity.  Yesterday my husband and I and a couple of the pastors went up into the mountains to give out some solar lamps to a few of the more needy families. 

[alison brundage]

[logiemac]

Beautiful pic,you look fantastic. :-)

[afigreg]

This last photo is one of my favourites of you Alison because it shows you as you right now. Not you as a bodybuilder or as someone helping your local community or as anything other than just you and I think it's just a nice image of you right now(if all of that makes any sense to you or anyone else).

Ok so I just noticed that it's cut out from another photo but I still think my last comments apply here.

[alison brundage]

                                                 
Instructions given to patients before discharge                                           This lady is seeing patterns and colors for the first time in over a decade.


I know you probably get weary of all my rants...but this is one special day I just have to share.  This week around 100 or so poor indiginous blind people will be operated on for cataracts by volunteer missionary surgeons from the USA.  These people walk in blind...and walk out with vision.  They have been on government waiting lists for years and some blind for over a decade.  This is nothing short of a miracle for them. 


This week will be an exciting one for me  ( them too of course) !!
Alison

[afigreg]

That's just amazing Alison. One, I'd assume fairly simple, operation and they get to do something we take for granted. Also they'll get to see you for the first time and that can't be a bad thing.

I'd never call what you write rants. You've seen my extremely epic messages and emails. Now they can be rants. I'm sure everyone here, at least the regulars here on this post, are more than happy to read whatever you wish to share with us and even happier to see the photos. Thank you for sharing so much with us Alison.

Grego

[alison brundage]

10 years before my bodybuilding began.  I was 24 yr old,  Hair teased up to the max and sprayed hard in place...perfect for the beach.

     
Came close to marrying this fellow...a doctor.  Then along came my dear husband Bill...surfboard under one arm and a bag of weed in the other.......life took a turn (laughing)   

[alison brundage]

1973 after 4 years of surfing...now married to my pot smoking, surfing husband...note I ditched to old hairdo
                                just a couple of hippies 


Took up surfing and turtle lifting

[zig563]

Nice bicep showing Alison. I knew you used some unconventional training methods, but turtle lifting? 

[alison brundage]

Early 80's Hawaii Christmas with Bill my husband 






This was when I was cutting my hair while hanging upside-down on my power rack

[alison brundage]

This was my gym that I had in the garage...mid 80's maybe?.   This was gym #2.   Stop sign pipe hand made equipment.   The other gal in the picture is a friend who was visiting us there in Hawaii. She was studying chiropractic. I was getting pointers on stretching.  She now has a daughter in medical school and has been herself a chiropractor  for many decades.  She'll be visiting us again in Panama in a couple of months.   I'll have to retake that pic.....

[alison brundage]

Today ...out in the country with a friend who's visiting.  This fellow was one of the first surf film makers there in Hawaii.  He was our neighbor we shared a garage.  On one side was his clothesline...the other my gym.  Here he's once again behind the lens taking home videos here in Panama...following us around everywhere camera in hand.  Guy's a real character, lots of fun and full of old stories of old the old days in Hawaii, and his experiences with some of the greatest surf stars.  Great fun...back in the time machine sorta thing.....

[alison brundage]

Trip to the beach with our friend last week

[afigreg]

You're only tiny in that picture but Alison you're looking extremely fit and beautiful in that picture. Obviously your workout routine is going well(any chance of a closer photo of you in that swimsuit?).

Grego