Happy New Year to all Nomads everywhere (especially the old ones)
Olding
Through The Learning Channel, Discovery and National Geographic I stay in touch with the world. So much to see, be amazed by. Recently I learned
that early man had very short life spans -- Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal both about 40 years on average. I?ve known for a while the sad statistics of the
short life expectancy of people in countries like Niger (29) or Uganda (33) and others ravaged by drought, disease, war.
I live in Mexico. Life expectancy here, for a man, is 68.42. I?ll be 66 years old in October. I?ve already beat the curve for a lot of countries.
Now that I have, I begin to feel another kind of sympathy for those who die young, before their time --- whatever the hell that means.
When I was a young man, I did youthful, energetic things. Now I can wallow in the sloth of old age, do all the things old people are famous for. I
shall always consider myself lucky to have lived long enough to reach this age, live in this way.
Those unlucky souls who died while still very young, who were simply worn out, worn down by the conditions under which they lived and labored could
only have their youth to remember. I give them no dishonor when I speculate that a man of 35 years, living in a country where his life expectancy is
age 40, does not consider himself old by my standards. He will die before he can look old, feel old, be old. That?s the sad part.
He will never feel the pleasure of the complaint. His ills and ailments will never become his welcome bedmates, his friends and constant companions.
This man can never know the satisfaction of being the victim of time, the joy of grousing about how ageing gnaws away at the body and the mind.
It is not possible for a young man to fully appreciate the satisfaction in scolding, chiding, advising a 60 year old son or daughter -- a special
kind of fulfillment found in sharing one?s hard-won wisdom with the foolish, wrong-headed youngster. One of life?s precious secrets, learned at the
age of 25 is no more than a fuzzy footnote to the sum and substance that man would take to the grave if he died a mere 15 years later. The same
secret, about women, politics, the human condition, carried about, polished, cleaned, tuned for 60 years, takes on the importance, the majesty of The
Rosetta Stone, Hammurabi?s book of laws.
What of serious dialectic, discussion, argument? The young-old man has only children to talk with, to lecture to. A man of 80 or more years can and
will argue with anyone who has ears, vocal chords, a tongue and soft palate, lips. His most eloquent pronouncements are soliloquies -- what we
sometimes hear as mutterings, gibberish, are actually arguments won and lost with the master of the argument, the old man himself.
I?m coming of age myself. Last year I took some visitors, friends and family from the states, fishing in my little boat. We saw some marlin that
wouldn?t bite, caught two small tuna. Rays were jumping everywhere. One of the youngsters asked me why the manta rays jumped. I said ?because they
can.?
Later that day my grandson Greg said ?Grampa, why don?t we all go down to the beach, go for a swim??
I said. ?Because I don?t have to. Because I don?t want to.?
A statement not so much of prerogative but, considered against the millions who can never make such a gruff and gritty rejoinder, an obligatory
declaration.
He probably mis-read my grin. He doesn?t know what it means when I rub my big belly with both hands, grin that way, open another beer. He?s lousy
at current events, geography. He doesn?t know about the young-old people in Gambia, Ethiopia.
He?s 11 years old, lives in San Diego. Tomorrow he and I are going for a ride on the beach in my dunebuggie, sit and fish awhile. By the time we
get back to the house he?ll know just how lucky he was to be born in a place where they let you live as long as you want.vandenberg - 12-31-2005 at 08:22 AM
Hey Osprey
Happy and prosperous New Year to you and all other Nomads.
Will turn 70 next month and have a mother ,that, at 94, still lectures me . Consider myself very fortunate to say the least. But if I would have known
that I would make it this far, I sure would have taken better care of myself.turtleandtoad - 12-31-2005 at 11:07 AM
Well said Ospray
From a 60 something youngster.
Osprey-----------
Barry A. - 12-31-2005 at 01:32 PM
One heck of a lot of wisdom you are spouting this morning. Lots to think about. At 67, I sure know where you are "coming from".
Have a good and happy year.
Barrybajajudy - 12-31-2005 at 02:39 PM
I am not confessing to any age but I surely did enjoy your post, Osprey.
Happy New Year to you all....young and old
But Osprey....
Sharksbaja - 1-1-2006 at 05:27 PM
....you are an young-old man in your own right. Young at heart and soul and obviously ambulatory.
It is a shocking subject that bewilders me. I suppose if I were to be cast upon the shores of such a timeline of life I would surely be confounded.
How then would I explain and confess my (comparative) longevity. Happy New
Year. Corky
I've always considered myself lucky.
Sonora Wind - 1-1-2006 at 05:45 PM
To be that is ( old enough to know better but to young to resist). May the coming new year/years find all Nomads free of pain, full of love,and
happy.
[Edited on 1-2-2006 by Sonora Wind]
Sonora Wind:
bugdude - 1-1-2006 at 06:04 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Sonora Wind
To be that is ( old enough to know better but to young to resist). May the coming new year/years find all Nomads free of pain, full of love,and
happy.
Prose of eloquence and meaning. I tip my hat to you. Thank you.
"The poet judges not as a judge judges but as the sun falling around a helpless thing."
Happy New
Year. Corky