Over The Hill. I passed that milestone last year, when I turned half-century old. What an interesting half-century it was. It really is kind of like a roller coaster. You know, that first hill you climb ever so slowly. You seem to hesitate for a moment at the very top, and then you go barelling down the other side of the hill, a hundred times faster than you went up it. There must be some rule or law in physics that mandates the passage of time move at warp speed the older we get. Remember when you were a kid, and Christmas took like four and a half years to come around again? The other day I came across a roll of Sesame Street wrapping paper that I swear I used just last week to wrap gifts for the children. And now here we are again at the threshold of another holiday season. Where does it go? At some point on that roller coaster ride, we find ourselves at the point of "zero gravity" where we are suspended in mid-air somewhere between the safety bar and the seat. (Well, okay... I will admit that the size of my butt has made my "zero gravity" experience less and less over the years... but you skinny folks will know what I'm talking about...). The moment of weightlessness where there is no rhyme or reason to just how it is that we are floating in mid air. I seem to have moments like that every day, and there's not a roller coaster within miles of me. Dare I refer to them as Senior Moments? When, for the life of me, I can't remember what I was looking for, I lose my train of thought in mid-sentence, and worst of all, if I am lucky enough to remember what it was I was looking for, you can bet I'll never find it. I'm sure I put it in a safe place somewhere so I could locate it easily the next time I need it. No rhyme or reason. One of these days when it is time for Whitney to put me in the Old Folks' Home, and we're moving my junk out of the house, I will find all those misplaced items. I won't remember what they are, or what I intended to use them for, or why they were hidden in such a place, but oh yes, I imagine we'll have a nice Lost & Found box. So why is it that time passes by so much quicker as we get older? Are we just crazy busy, with too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it? I wonder, does it whiz by as quickly when you retire? Or does life slow down a little bit once you don't have to work a 40-50 hour week any more? I've often heard people say, once they retire, that they stay so busy they don't know how they ever had time to work. Yeah, I could totally see me being that way too. But in the meantime, I'll stay on the roller coaster, digging in my heels, trying to make the other side of that hill not quite so steep and slow it down a bit. Holding on for dear life when the ride is rough, and holding my hands high in the air during the fun parts. It's wierd, thinking about the circle of life, growing up from a baby, being a teenager, becoming an adult, becoming a parent and a grandparent. That's a lot of livin' in 50 years. Well, 51 to be exact. I just wonder what life will bring, on this the downhill side of 50?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
THE HILL Looks A Lot Steeper (on the down side of 50!)
Over The Hill. I passed that milestone last year, when I turned half-century old. What an interesting half-century it was. It really is kind of like a roller coaster. You know, that first hill you climb ever so slowly. You seem to hesitate for a moment at the very top, and then you go barelling down the other side of the hill, a hundred times faster than you went up it. There must be some rule or law in physics that mandates the passage of time move at warp speed the older we get. Remember when you were a kid, and Christmas took like four and a half years to come around again? The other day I came across a roll of Sesame Street wrapping paper that I swear I used just last week to wrap gifts for the children. And now here we are again at the threshold of another holiday season. Where does it go? At some point on that roller coaster ride, we find ourselves at the point of "zero gravity" where we are suspended in mid-air somewhere between the safety bar and the seat. (Well, okay... I will admit that the size of my butt has made my "zero gravity" experience less and less over the years... but you skinny folks will know what I'm talking about...). The moment of weightlessness where there is no rhyme or reason to just how it is that we are floating in mid air. I seem to have moments like that every day, and there's not a roller coaster within miles of me. Dare I refer to them as Senior Moments? When, for the life of me, I can't remember what I was looking for, I lose my train of thought in mid-sentence, and worst of all, if I am lucky enough to remember what it was I was looking for, you can bet I'll never find it. I'm sure I put it in a safe place somewhere so I could locate it easily the next time I need it. No rhyme or reason. One of these days when it is time for Whitney to put me in the Old Folks' Home, and we're moving my junk out of the house, I will find all those misplaced items. I won't remember what they are, or what I intended to use them for, or why they were hidden in such a place, but oh yes, I imagine we'll have a nice Lost & Found box. So why is it that time passes by so much quicker as we get older? Are we just crazy busy, with too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it? I wonder, does it whiz by as quickly when you retire? Or does life slow down a little bit once you don't have to work a 40-50 hour week any more? I've often heard people say, once they retire, that they stay so busy they don't know how they ever had time to work. Yeah, I could totally see me being that way too. But in the meantime, I'll stay on the roller coaster, digging in my heels, trying to make the other side of that hill not quite so steep and slow it down a bit. Holding on for dear life when the ride is rough, and holding my hands high in the air during the fun parts. It's wierd, thinking about the circle of life, growing up from a baby, being a teenager, becoming an adult, becoming a parent and a grandparent. That's a lot of livin' in 50 years. Well, 51 to be exact. I just wonder what life will bring, on this the downhill side of 50?
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