Things I used to do, but now......

Things I used to do, but now…

The other day I was headed into town and saw a young 30-ish something guy jogging up the highway with a smooth, effortless stride.  I used to jog like that.

On a trip to North Carolina this past spring, we were traveling on I-26 where the Appalachian Tail crosses I-26 at Sam’s Gap.  Several young men, obviously serious backpackers, were crossing the highway with their walking sticks, carrying backpacks that looked like they weighed 40 pounds, moving  north with a determined pace.  No doubt, their intent was to reach Mt. Katadin, Maine before the October snow flies. I used to backpack like that.

This fall, I saw some young boys playing touch football in a neighbor’s yard.  They were running “full throttle” jumping and dodging each other with wild abandon and enjoying every minute of their play.  I used to play like that.

I watched my 40 something son, father of three young children, who had worked a full nine hour day, then driven 200 miles after work with his four year old son; arrive at our home around eleven p.m., still wide awake and in a good mood.  I used to be able to do that.

Other things I used to do, but now it's different………

·         I used to be able to stay up late and get up early the next day, ready for whatever came my way.

o       Now if I stay up late I can’t get up early.  Even when I get up, it takes a while to get going and I’m ready for a break in about an hour.

·         When I used to eat too much and pick up a few extra pounds; I could usually cut back, exercise and drop those extra pounds just as easily.

o       Now I continue to pick up those extra pounds and they just seem to hang around my middle.  It takes a lot of exercise and fasting to shed any pounds at all.

·         I used to be able to drive 500+  miles and stop only to fill up the car with gas and take a potty break.

o       Now I have to stop about every hour to stretch those stiff joints and empty my bladder.

·         I used to grow a half-acre vegetable garden that included two or three varieties of corn, three types of green beans, three kinds of squash, carrots, onions, okra, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, peanuts, egg plant, cabbage, tomatoes, some pumpkins, and bell peppers.

o       This last summer my garden consisted of two bell pepper plants, three tomato plants, eight stalks of okra, and some strawberries; all in six - 4’x 8’ raised beds.

·         I used to be able to work all week, putting in 10-12 hours of job related work each day, then attend meetings in the evenings, as well as helping take care of our kids, do all the yard and garden work, take care of the dogs, teach a Sunday School class and help with a Boy Scout Troop and still watched a little TV in the evening.

o        Now if I can stick it out, I might get in six good hours of work in a day and my community and church involvement is down to about one committee and one volunteer job.  When I do sit down to watch TV I usually go to sleep.

·         I used to be able to get up at the crack of dawn, drive an hour to a starting point with ten young boys, take them on a 10 mile day hike that gained 2,000 feet in elevation and still get home by supper time.

o       Today I seldom take a hike, especially with kids, and if I do it is just for a few miles with little or no elevation change.  My  knees can’t take it!

·         I used to go to the doctor once a year for a physical examination and didn’t take any medication until I was around age fifty.

o       Today my calendar is filled with regularly scheduled appointments with my GP, heart specialists, dermatologist, and my dentist.  I take five pills at breakfast, eight more at dinner and two before I go to bed.

 Well, you’re getting the idea aren’t you?  Life changes for us as we age and about all we can do is adapt and make the best of it.  It is a fact, we can’t travel as far or as fast as we used to when we were younger. 

I remember a great uncle who used to visit our home when I was a kid.  His wife always joked that my uncle’s head was somehow connected to a switch in his butt.  Within just a few minutes after sitting down, his head would drop down and he would be asleep.  It was funny back then, but I can see that day coming before too long.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll just keep letting words tumbling out of my head into this blog spot.  Maybe it will keep my brain from freezing up.

Now, let’s ramble!