2000-07-25 - 19:27 MDT

July 25, 2000

Age perk's

There are so many things for a person my age to do. Like getting out of a soft easy chair. Other exercises which used to be easy like getting one shank through the undershorts and trying to maintain balance and lift the other leg high enough to get the foot in. No complaints here, it comes with the territory.

The AARP group is an age that allows us to do most anything we are able to do and some that we are foolish enough to try. We do things other than shopping for exercise - - - at least we men do.

It starts early in the morning with a brown transfusion, strong and hot. And then checking the obits to see who you have outlived, a mild beating on the chest there. Then the comics to get the bad taste of the current crop of so called news out of our mouths. A trip to the library, maybe the Wal's - - - Walmart or Walgreens loitering in the shade of a tree in the park watching the birds do bird things and the squirrels acting squirrely viewing the heavens above to watch the movement of clouds, feeling the gentle breezes. Some of the same stuff we enjoyed as kids - - - but this time really understanding how precious these things are.

A vast amount of communication passes between us oldsters. The blow by blow description of the latest bypass surgery, hip joint replacement - the rearrangement of plumbing and, oh, yes recounting the ordeal of laying on the table, perfectly still while cataracts are removed and the new lens put in. They won't use sedatives, they tell us that unconscious eye movements occur then. So, the surgeons have developed a sixth sense and will tell you, "stay awake now," when you are so bored out of your gourd that if they weren't messing with your eyeballs you would cry.

An almost endless interplay of, "Well, my doctor did this, my surgeon did it this way, he prescribed X medication because what you are using is no good. This can take at least two hours. Maybe about here we agree that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but not arriving at any solutions that haven't been tried already. Then the catching up on the whoevers. Then any time left, or maybe stolen from the other activities pictures of the grand children are passed along with comments on the cute things they are saying and doing.

Until someone says, "Gee, look at the time, we better get going before the rush hour really gets heavy."

I loved working until age 69, I was the oldest there and felt refreshed amongst all those kids (some in their 50's) I felt that it helped me keep a youthful outlook on things and was called on occasionally to give fatherly and grandfatherly advice, which enabled the receiver to feel free to pick his/her own route. I guess that is one of my reasons to wander the net, anticipating the pending birth of a baby to someone I have been e-mailing to and fro and other young things. What comes out of high school students and college students is amazingly valuable. The many facets of thought expressed on the forums. The youthful outlook and philosophy over the years has helped me to adjust my feelings about things.

As a final, last ditch activity when other things are not possible, I will sit in a good light, with my best glasses on and a mirror and begin to count the wrinkles in my face. A sure way to put me in the mood for bed. I lose track somewhere around a thousand. So age has enough perk's to fill my calendar.

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