Thoughts on getting older

Last weekend

As we age, things change.  As our children are adults, we do things so we can connect with them.  In my case, this means I go to bars more often than I ever did in my youth.  How often?  Maybe four or five times in a year?  If you count the dog bar visits, the birthday outings, etc.  This one, on Sunday January 28th, was a joint party for my daughter in law and her dad.  They called it the 70-40 party.  I sat with my son as these kinds of things are among the times I actually get to see and talk with him.

Observation of one change:  a sugar-hangover lasts longer.  Tuesday morning I was still dealing with after effects.  Sigh.

Observation of another change:  vocabulary.  I found myself writing a review of Cassidy Hutchinson's book, Enough.  I called it a "coming of age" story.  She was 24 or 25, post-college.  Coming of age is happening later and later in my mind.  It's not a 14 - 16 year old getting through high school or finding puppy love, it's a professional figuring out what her priorities are, and having to leave behind one support structure to live with herself.  I have gone through transitions like this, periodically, over my seven decades on the planet.  Every transition brings change.  I'm still "coming of age", in my 70's.

Confession, I grew up in a Republican state, with Republican parents.  Consequently, I found it easy to identify with this idealistic young woman.  It reminded me of something that happened with my dad during Nixon's presidency.  

Son and mom thought:  Lacey's grandma was there to honor her son's 70th birthday.  

If I were to be present for my son's 70th birthday, I would be over 100 years old.  

By the way, the date of the party was not the date of either celebrant's birthday, they looked for a date "between" and that was the day they arrived at.  This is big KC Chiefs country, by the way, so folks were sneaking looks at video on their phones to check the progress of the game, but they still came!

I had written this part of the blog early in the week, on Tuesday, I think.  Then I went dark.

This weekend

Fast forward... got e-card from a reader checking up on me... so, time to pick up the traces after my "cave" time the rest of the week.  What dragged me out of the cave was a pre-arranged women's basketball outing, with my friend Gerri.  Yes, the same Gerri I go kayaking with in the warm seasons, and have walked the 6 miles of the state games "Volkswalk" with.

I had forgotten who we were playing.  Turns out it was Rutgers.

We were a bit "drowned rats" in our proof of presence selfie, before all of the crowd had arrived.  Turns of the precipitation that we really do need came as rain, so we were walking through the rain from the car to the arena, and it was still raining after, as we walked back.

Not too bad a crowd, considering the weather and that it's women's sports (but then again, Nebraska is pretty good at supporting our women's sports... remember Volleyball Day last August?)

The game was hard fought, with swings back and forth.  It was tied at the half, and then Rutgers went on a great run in the 3rd quarter and we were down by 11 as the 4th quarter started.  Yikes!

The Husker women fought back in the fourth quarter.  It ended in a heartbreaking 1 point loss for us.

Anyway, I have not fallen off the edge of the earth, but I have been in a writing slump, for a variety of reasons.  I actually have been reading more the past couple of weeks, not blogs (which, sadly, I'm behind on), but books.  I'm on a UK-written romance at the moment, as a swing back from the political/moral drama of Cassidy's book.

But all in all, Life is still good.  News is scary.  So, in self-defense and as part of self care... Spark on!