Back in my old life I spent little time deciding what I was going to do each day. The course was well mapped out for me by whatever was needed to meet my job's and my family's obligations. The daily juggle dictated my agenda. Not so now, working in the mines of my golden years.
6:00 A.M. Press the button in the wall next to my bed to let the resident's control center know that I've made it through the night. Brush my teeth. Shave. Shower. Eat something. Take my meds. Seize the day.
I don't concern myself with what day it is. First I figure out what year it is. Review my "To Do" list of important dates (doctor visits) and social obligations (weekly meetings with other inmates for special interests).
Thank God for the internet with its magic abilities to connect me with loved ones, friends from that other life, and virtual stores full of stuff I'm certain I need. The other day I got an email from Mike Westra, a friend from that other life. If you are a little bit old and are a basketball fan you will remember Mike as a star roundballer for USC. We met when we both worked as reps for Jostens of Minnesota, selling high school students various items they didn't really need. We discovered we shared a love of limericks, poems by Robert Service ("He was always cold but that land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell") and Rudyard Kipling ("Though I've belted you and flayed you, By the livin Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!") and any other written material that caused one to laugh out loud or think deep thoughts. At boring sales meetings we would exchange original limericks about anything and everything and in the tradition of the best limericks, they were blue in color.
So I sign off in the spirit of our friendship with a limerick. (Also, Mike asked how to respond to my Methuselah postings. Click on the "no comments or 1 comment or 2 etc at the bottom of the post).
This place where I live is okay
If you like doing nothing each day
Excitement is rare
'til you fall down a stair,
“Don’t move him, just let him lay.”
No harm in the fall has been done
I’m up, I can walk, I can run
That drama is through,
We need something new
Or back to the jigsaws for fun.
(Acknowledging truth: there was no fall. A rhyme was needed for "rare").
