“I look forward to growing old and wise and audacious.”
What a surprise! It’s cloudy and damp. Rain is coming later today, but I have to go out anyway. My to-do list is filled with chores and errands which I figure will take me today and tomorrow to complete. One item is I have to fold the second load of laundry. For me, finishing the laundry, which sat so long by the door, is a huge accomplishment. I didn’t even run out of underwear.
Henry has found his voice. He reacts to every outside sound. A car door is his nemesis. He growls then barks then howls. Today he has already saved me from two car doors.
Maddie is deaf. She doesn’t hear Henry’s howls but sleeps through them. Her annoying habit is constantly meowing every time I move. She wants clean water, treats or some pieces of turkey cold cuts, Boar’s head of course. I give in. She is 18 and 1/2 and deserves that I ignore her idiosyncrasy, as annoying as it is.
When I was a kid, I never thought of my parents as old. That was reserved for my grandparents. They looked old and dressed old. My grandfathers on both sides mostly wore suits and fedoras, but when we went to visit my mother’s parents, mostly on Sundays, my grandfather was usually dressed in casual pants and a tee shirt, what we still call a wife-beater. My grandmother never changed her outfit. She was always dressed the same. What I mostly remember is her apron, her nylons rolled close to her ankles and her slippers with the backs down. My father’s parents were seldom informal, but I do remember my grandfather wearing a deep red jacket. It hung below his waist and zippered. I don’t even remember the sort of shirt he wore underneath. I don’t think I ever saw it. My grandmother wore the uniform of old ladies: a flowered dress, clunky black shoes and stockings. She was taller than my grandfather, and the shoes made her even taller. I do remember she also wore an apron around the house. We didn’t visit them often even though they lived in the same town as we did. My father would drop in on a Saturday. She always gave him some candy and cigarettes when he was leaving. I never thought of them as all that hospitable.
When I look around now, the old people are my age, but there is no dress code. We all wear what we want, what’s comfortable. I do own an apron but can’t remember the last time I wore it. It hangs on a hook in the kitchen just in case I need it.
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May 15, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Even warmer today than yesterday, 84,2F and it was a bit much so we didn’t take any walk until rather late today. The dogs were gasped even though they weren’t moving 🙂 Tomorrow ill also be very warm but after that it’ll cool down to nicer temperatures.
Albin now see cos as enemies and starts barking as soon as they move in the pasture, they move a lot 🙂 🙂 I really hope he doesn’t start barking when I let them out tomorrow morning, I really ant my neighbors to be able to sleep for as long as they wish 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
May 15, 2018 at 5:48 pm
Christer,
It got warmer by the afternoon.The sun was in and out all day. I think it got close to 70˚.
I totally understand why the barking can be annoying especially when there is no threat. Henry hasn’t yet howled from the yard so I’m glad for that. He is still afraid of a lot of outside noises.
Have a wonderful day!
May 15, 2018 at 9:37 pm
I am not old. Old in my mind is ten years older than I am right now. Thomas Wolff was old and he was more than ten years older than I am now. Like you my grandparents were very old when I was a kid. I think it’s the era in which they lived.
My mother never lived long enough to get old since she died at 41. My father lived by himself after she died until he was 87.
Today was cloudy and warm with high humidity.
May 15, 2018 at 10:02 pm
Bob,
Even though 70 is pushing old, I don’t feel old by any means. Except for physically, I don’t feel much different than I did when I was young. I always wonder who the woman is in the mirror, the one with gray hair and wrinkles.
I’m sorry about your loss of your mother. She was really young.
It rained to tonight.
May 15, 2018 at 11:27 pm
Who is that old man in the mirror every morning when I shave? I don’t feel any different then I did at 30. 🙂
May 15, 2018 at 11:37 pm
Exactly my reaction!
May 16, 2018 at 11:15 am
I agree with Bob, old has always been 10 yrs older than I am. Amazingly my oldest daugher’s cat -(Aunt) Pittypat is almost 24 yrs old! She can no longer reach her back to lick and smooth her fur, so we cut off her ‘2 dreadlocks’ for Spring equinox, however she can still jump up to her blanket on the sofa.We seem to have some sort of strange longevity for felines in my family, her mother was 22 when she passed. Life is so unpredictable- I try to remember to be grateful everyday, some days are a much easier than others. Thanks for being here as always.
May 16, 2018 at 11:21 am
splendid,
I love being here and sharing with you.
Maddie was so matted that I had to have her shaved. I tried to break up the clumps with a brush, special gloves and a comb. The comb worked but she hated it and whack me and even bit me, something in her 18 and 1/2 years she had never done. I had a mobile groomer come and shave her. Maddie looks awful but has to feel better.
May 16, 2018 at 3:47 pm
Mrs MDH and I were talking about this last night under the general discussion of “Is 80 the new 60” ? We have tended to see a sudden change around the 80 mark where we have thought that our Octogenarian chum is showing old including more apparent physical changes. If this is true, I can only hope that in 16 years the benchmark has moved.
Years have brought me neither wisdom nor maturity. Upon reflection this is the way it is meant to be. I still fuss over music and football and books and…well nothing really has changed except the speed of absorption and the method of delivery.
I was walking in the neighborhood at lunchtime listening to “Round the Horne” on BBC Radio 4 Extra. This was one of the 30 minute comedy shows we would enjoy on the radio after lunch on a Sunday along with such gigglers as The Navy Lark and The Clitheroe Kid.
Anyways back to Round the Horne, they were spoofing James Bond and the arch villain demanded Kathy Kirby in return for the clock from James Bond. What will you do with her asked Horne, oh we will think of something responded the arch villain. I giggled and immediately the voluptuous Ms Kirby was clear in my mind.
So across the years the digital experience drives the 60s experience through an iphone into a radio show that I loved when I was 10. I am handling it (not Ms Kirby, but maybe that is another story)
May 16, 2018 at 7:43 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I tend to fall more now than at any other time in my life. I figure I’m less attentive now than I had been when I was younger. Other than that, my life has changed little. My mind hasn’t yet accepted that I am 70.
I think I am in some ways wiser. That has come from my experiences. I learned along the way.
I watch YouTube often, mostly old black and white movies. I watch some scifi movies from the 50’s, Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan. Those were the Saturday movies I used to watch. I still find them enjoyable.