Have You Ever Noticed?

by Arleen Lorrance

 

As we get older, living takes longer! We’ve got these old-model bodies that, like old cars, need frequent servicing. While we often complain about the high price of auto mechanics, they don’t charge nearly as much as medical specialists and assorted scans. And they don’t make you sit around in the waiting room. You can leave your vehicle, unlike your body, and run all your errands while repairs are made.

In addition to repairs, the older body requires more maintenance. By the time I get out of bed, do my stretches, do an hour of exercise, have a bath, fix my face (excessive time is needed here), put on the wide variety of necessary creams to prevent further wrinkling and protect from UV rays, attend to my hair, and swallow a large contingent of vitamins, I am ready to go back to bed.

In contrast to my lengthy ablutions, young people have done a clever thing these days: They have devised hairdos and attire to match how they are able to spring into life. Their hairstyles don’t even pretend to have been combed and their clothes don’t even come close to covering their bodies. Back in the ’60’s we entertained the expression, “Let it all hang out,” but we didn’t actually do it the way it’s done today. I dare say, with all I have accumulated to this point, I don’t think I would want to let it all hang out!

Keeping it contained and presentable takes quite of bit of my day. Good thing I am semi-retired because I have new meaning for the term “work for a living.”  The more I age the more living takes work. Bending down to put plants in the garden is creative until I have to stand up. This phenomenon occurs after long sits in chairs as well. When the motor has idled too long it overheats and refuses to spring into action.

Having said all this, there is still something wonderful about having earned the right to be adorned with a license plate of “Classic,” to be sold senior tickets at the movies without being asked my age by the 16-year-old doing the selling, to discover which roads the silver will take in my hair, and to pamper myself by doing only what I want to do when I want to do it. The only schedules I have are the ones I make for myself and that’s a good thing given how long every little thing takes.

 

 

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