Rowing can prolong the health of both body and mind. At least it seems to have done so for the two of us who have been rowing together for the 62 years of our married life.

Our preference for rowing stems from the happy coincidence that both of us have been enthusiastic sailors since our youth when the normal way of getting to a sailboat was by rowing, not by outboard motors.

Most of our rowing together has been in a 12-foot Jarvis Newman dory. Our usual routine is to row about 1½ miles out of our harbor and to a mid-channel buoy. Our usual starting time is 6:30 am, just after sunrise.

We each have two oars and the boat goes best when our strokes are in perfect sync. It is the responsibility of the person in the stern of the craft to set the rhythm, and the responsibility of the person in the bow is to follow precisely.

Assuming that in a married couple the husband is both larger and stronger than the wife, the necessity for synchronized rowing makes it advisable to position the wife in the stern of the boat where she can set both the timing and length of the stroke. It is the husband's responsibility to follow her lead. This configuration of a married couple has many psychological advantages when practiced over a long span of years together. It can also subordinate, and soon eradicate, any minor differences that may be bothering them before the trip begins.

During the 9 months of the year when the weather is suitable in our home in Down East Maine, we row nearly every morning before breakfast. Only rain or high winds interfere with this routine.

Our boat is tied to a float within an easy walk of our house, just long enough to get some of the kinks out of our joints before climbing aboard. Rowing has become as natural to us as walking, so that we can enjoy the beauty and interesting sights that await us: eagles, osprey, cormorants, seals, and an occasional lobsterman heading out to his traps.