Coming
home from the annual Colorado fishing trip we tripped along at 80 miles an hour
along the interstate highway. Going 80 instead of 70 sped up the trip
considerably. Before we knew it we were passing through Topeka, going into the
home stretch.
While
we were in Colorado I was going 80, too. Fortunately a lot of family members
and friends were on hand to celebrate with me, thanks to their proximity in
some cases, but principally because several of the men love fly fishing and
wouldn’t miss it for love nor money.
Like
the trip home from Colorado, my 80 years on earth seem to have sped by and I’m
into the home stretch. In other words, I’m old and haven’t much more time to
exist as a unique assemblage of atoms, atoms that will soon disintegrate, then
individually go their merry ways to become parts of something or someone else.
All
summer I ruminated about becoming an octogenarian. Was I ready to acknowledge
being old? How would I handle old age? When would my trip home end? So far being
80 has not enlightened me on the answers to these questions.
All
I can say is that this new decade started off with a bang-up party. Fourteen of
us sat at picnic tables lined end to end beneath the towering mountains around
us. There was a mountain of food including two cakes and my favorite ice cream.
There were stories and hugs and generous gifts.
Dennis,
as usual, gave me a new electronic device – this year a smart phone. I suspect he wants
to keep my mind sharp by making me learn new things. In this case I have a lot
to learn. I was excited about the phone’s camera and plunged right in to
learning how to use it. After about 150 out-of-focus photos, I finally got a
good one of this beautiful moth on our screen door.
Nearby, a six-inch-long praying mantis clung to the stone wall.
As
age advances, the body slows down, but time speeds up. My friend Linda says
that time slows down when we have changes of scene. I’d add that learning new
things slows time down. I want to continue feeling that I have plenty of time,
so I’ll strive to keep learning and going places. Maybe next year while Dennis
goes fly fishing I will check in at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs for a
week of luxurious living. By then I should have mastered my smart phone
Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer
1 comment:
You have mastered many new technologies in recent years. People used to joke about aged ones inability to use computers and the internet and you are comfortable with both. How many of them know the old "technologies".....making their own clothes, pickling and jamming, biscuit and bread making? I know you can't reach it, but you can give yourself a "virtual" pat on the back or two. L.
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