Has this ever happened to you? I was thinking about a song and then I turned on the radio and the song was playing. That's scary! This has happened to me not once or twice, but many times.  Recently I was thinking about the song Little Darlin". Then I turned on the radio and there it was.

 

Strange.

 

Am I an alien or what?

 

How many of you have had this kind of experience? Or would admit to it? Have you heard of any other explanations for this phenomenon?

Some of you who follow this blog know that Penny and my friend Gene (the guy in the tux and red bow tie to the right) have a contest in which one tried to out-symptom the other. Penny was ahead for a while with her injured knee, cracked rib and gum surgery. But Gene has forged out in the lead with an intestinal blockage and a newly identified form of cancer - thankfully one that can be controlled.

 

This exhange of ailments is what we call the Organ Recital.

 

Now here is the message: Yes, you can expect that this sort of stuff is going to happen in late life. But the point I keep trying to make is that you don't have to surrender to the problems. Penny doesn't.  I don't and neither does Gene. He gave me a call and told me that he was reading my posting in which I talked about all my medications and how I continue to live one day at a time. He says he was so inspired that he and his companion, Jane, decided to do just that.  So, they have signed up for a Mediterranean cruise with a bunch of friends in September.

 

Way to go Gene! Way to go Jane!

Son Jim, down in Miami, passed this one on to me. Said he thought it was a good one for Late Life Crisis. I think you good readers will get a laugh from it.

 

Upon hearing that her elderly grandfather had just died, Katie went straight to her grandparent's house to comfort her 95-year-old  grandmother. When she asked how her grandfather had died, her grandmother replied, "He had a heart attack while we were making love Sunday morning."

 

Horrified, Katie asked her grandmother if two people nearly 100 years old having sex were asking for trouble.

 

"Oh no, my dear," replied Granny. "Many years ago, realizing our advanced age, we figured the best time to do it was when the church bells would start to ring. It was just the right rhythm. Nice and slow and even. Nothing too strenuous, simply in on the Ding and out on the Dong."

 

She paused to wipe away a tear and continued, "He'd still be alive if the ice cream truck hadn't come along."

We like this piece from AARP Magazine:

 

What you should have learned about wisdom by age ...

 

50  When you needed it you hired it.

 

60 You realize you're lucky you married it.

 

70 You don't know how you've managed to live so long without it.

 

80 People will assume you must have it.

 

Pete's Note: Geez, I hope that's true! If this is true I don't have to try to work so hard to convince people I have it.

OK, this now puts us in the big leagues! I have had my interview with Lee Roberts who is writing the piece on blogging for late life people.  He is interviewing several bloggers who deal with older audiences. He asked the right kind of questions so I found it easy to respond.

 

He started with the usual questions about how and why did I get into this kind of blogging. He seemed interested in the things I told him about how blogging has put me into a community of people who have come to care about each other - and give support to each other. I told him about the surprise package that came in the mail from Pat at Eleanor's Cottage (no last names given to him) - the hand made dolls. I told him about PebblePie's interest in maybe moving to Texas or Bloomington - and her visit to Cheryl. I told him about how we support our friends who are having troubles.

 

Somewhere along the way he brought up the matter of older people not being into computers. He quoted a study that said only 1 out of 5 people over 65 were into computers. I told him that a lot of our friends are really mid lifers who are thinking ahead about being older and wanting to know more about the experience of being elderly. Or who have parents who are later lifers and want input on how to help them better.

 

He asked about how difficult it was to set up and run a blog and I told him how easy it was.  This gave me a chance to tell him that the people in our circle of friends are very sophisticated in handling the technology of setting up blog sites and running them.

 

He concluded by asking what I get out of doing the Late Life Crisis blog. I told him that I enjoyed being able to share my experiences with living the late life. But I concluded by telling him that the friendships we have developed are genuine and meaningful.

 

He says that he has to file his story by March 15.  He will let me know when it is running. So, I will pass that on, and if the story is carried in the online version of the Times I will do a posting with  the link to it.

 

The upshot of all this is the wonderful assurance that we are not whistling in the dark. There are a lot of people out there who are watching what we do.

 

 

Penny and I  somehow got into the subject of how stuff used to be packaged vs. the plastic packaging of today.

 

How many of you remember the orange crates?  When I was a kid the groceries used to be delivered in boxes that had been used to ship oranges. These boxes were maybe three feet long and about 18" wide. The sides of the boxes were thin strips of wood - the ends soldi wood.  And the boxes were bisected by a sturdy divider panel of wood. The ends of the boxes carried a coloful brand marking.

 

These boxes had many lives. Young people without much money used them as book cases. We kids made vehicles from them, taking the axles and wheels from our coaster wagons. Or the tiny kids just climbed in them and the boxes became whatever their imagination dictated.

 

If there was no other use for them, they were broken down and used for kindling to start furnace fires. This was in the coal furnace days.

 

We also remember that flour used to come in cloth sacks. These empty sacks were washed used as dish towels or cleaning rags.

 

And here is a relatied thought from Penny. The kitchen or pantry used to have a built-in metal bin for flour. When you pulled the handle, it leaned out so flour could be dipped out or poured in. Penny remembers asking her Mom why the bin was so big.  The answer was that flour was used in many things so she had to keep a lot in stock.

 

And does anyone remember the little tin containers for maple syrup? The brand was Log Cabin maple syrup and the containers were shaped like a little cabin. They, too, had an afterlife as toys.

 

I dunno.  May some of this stuff is still around and I am not aware of it. How about a little help here. Do you have anything to add on this subject?  If so, let's hear about it.

 

How wild can this thing get?  I had an email yesterday from a writer for the New York Times who has been assigned a story on blogging for and by "elders". This person had done a search on the subject and found Late Life Crisis - thought it was well done and wants to interview me. So, I am set to be interviewed by the NY Times Tudsday morning at 10 AM.

 

I haven't heard any more from Bob at the Pantagraph but he said the story would not appear for a couple of weeks - and he has been on vacation.

 

Other than that, Pete, is anything interesting happening in your life? lol

In our younger years we usually feel pretty indestructable. The body, we believe,  is going to go on forever - so we take it for granted. But as we get into the late years we develop a sense of the fragility of the body.

 

We see our contemporaries being struck with disabling afflictions. I mean people like my best friend and business partner, Gene, who is my age.  I hadn't heard from Gene for a while (he is in Tucson and I am in Bloomington). So I phoned and no answer. I kept phoning and leaving messages but no answer. Then I got a call from Gene - he said he had just gotten out of the hospital after a week, including 4 days in intensive care. He had an intestinal blockage.

 

It just happened. The doctors say they don't know why. It is that sort of thing that makes a person my age wonder when (not if) something like that is going to happen to me.

 

In the meantime I keep other physical problems at bay through the wonders of modern medicine. I am not being sarcastic about this.  These medications are helping to keep my arteries from being blocked any further.  They are keeping my blood pressure down.  They are preventing erractic heart beats. They are keeping my prostate cancer at bay - and have for eight years.

 

But I don't dwell on this fragility - not at all. I live each day to the fullest and go an as if I am going to live forever.

 

Well, there is some food for thought for you younger folks. Make what you will of it.

I am writing this while being interviewed by Bob Holliday of the Bloomington, Il Pantagraqph newspaper. Bob is going to do a feature story on our blogging experience. We are talking about who the bloggers may be, how does one get into blogging and the mechanics of posting pieces.  So, I am showing Bob exaclty how it is done.  More coming on this. Another fifteen minutes of fame!

Tomorrow is Friday and that will be date night again. It has been below freezing most of the time all week here in Bloomington. So, there is something cozy and heartwarming about dropping in on our Friday night haunts. We haven't been to the Yankee Doodle, our Friends-type pub, for a couple of weeks.  Penny had some nasty gum surgery and was advised to avoid the martinis. But tomorrow we plan to drop in on the gang at the Doodle. Adam the bartender will have our martinis ready before we get to our seats at the bar.

 

Then we will migrate over to the Ozark House where we expect to join Jerry and Lorrie at the bar, before dinner. We have been recruiting Patty, a newcomer, to join us. She bought a condo in our building and we have conned her into becoming treasurer. We sure owe her a couple of drinks for taking that job.  Penny will be the condo President next year. And I am the secretary. So, the three of us have a lock on things here.

 

Of course, Sandy, the world's greatest waitress, will be greeting us when we get to the table. There is something about this city that I have never seen in all my years of living around the U.S. People know about each other - and care about each other. We have been following Sandy's adventures with on-line dating since she became a divorcee. When we saw her last she had found a possible keeper.

 

I think Penny will be ordering their sensational fried chicken.  I am going for a dish I recently discovered on their menu - seafood scampi. Outstanding!

 

The life of a late lifer can awfully good when you find the right person and the right place to live it in.

 

 

Thanks to all of you for your warm birthday wishes.

 

Now, some good news.  I did not see my shadow here in Bloomington IL. So we can count on an early spring!

 

I was a great day. Penny, in spite of suffering with a broken rib (she had a fall)  - and 2 1/2 hours of periodontal surgery the day before -  made the day special.  I got up in the morning to find a hand-written Happy Birthday sign with dangling ribbons posted over the dining area archway. There were some great gifts and then for dinner - my favorite - Penny's cog au vin with french bread.  It is great. You rip off a chunk of bread and dip it in the juice. Yummers!

 

Of course, my greatest gift for my birthday - and for every day of my life - is Penny.

 

Love ya all! 

 

Pete

Isn't this cool ? My birth date is 2-2-22. I get a lot comments about that and have to explain that the numbers have never won me anything in the lotteries.

 

It also means that I am one of the world's largest groundhogs. If I throw a shadow - it is some kind of shadow!

 

I am so sick of winter I am not going out tomorrow if the sun is shining. I don't want to cause a long extension of winter. So, this is one time that I hope it is cloudy and gloomy.

 

Now, back to the groundhogs. Pat at Eleanor's Cottage sent me this list:

 

Top 10^* Reasons to Celebrate Groundhog Day

^* I had some math training at a Big Ten conference school, which explains why there are eleven reasons in the list.

 

She also sent me a link to a web site about groundhogs.  It is fascinating. I had no idea the little rascals are pets for some people. It also taught me a lot about the life of groundhogs. Of special interest are the recordings of groundhog talk. Take a look, you'll enjoy this.

http://www.hoghaven.com/home.htm

 

Well, tomorrow I have to change my age in the profile section. As much as I try to ignore my birthday, people won't let me. What's the big thing about being older than dirt? It is my thought that, if we recognize birthdays, it should be condolences, not congratulations.