I don’t know why. I don’t actually RIDE a bicycle!

I do admit to being a francophile — something I could not always say.  When I was in my early 20′s I was actually quite anti-France/francophones.  At that time I had a job that was not going well and the family and I really needed a getaway.  I had been reading the Frommer’s guide to the Carribean that winter and I was in a mood to be completely away from people.  Knowing that was not really possible on our budget I opted instead for a bit of confrontation with my personal prejudices and we booked a 21 day trip to Guadeloupe where we spent most of our time on the tiny island of Terre de Haut, one of the Petit Saints.  The result of that trip was a complete change of mind about the French (it IS a Departemente of France) and resulted in what has become a 30 yr fascination with France.

But to get back to my point. Not only do I not ride, I’m not even keen on exercise.  I carry around too many pounds, I’m lazy, and I dont particularly like sweating.

But I DO love the Tour de France.

I admire the stamina and determination of men (and women too) who pit themselves against realities of the world:  geography.  I don’t so much care about the team points, or the king of the mountain, or the sprinter — but I am fascinated by the human body as machine.

I have not had as much time this year to watch; though I have been DVR’ing it.  But it does remind me of my visits there and in honor, here’s a scene from Perouges, not far from the Alps where they happen to be cycling as I write this today.

I have recently realized that I was somewhere in my 30′s before I ever heard the expression “low self-esteem.”

And yet over the years it has seemed that almost everyone is talking about their low self esteem.

My generation has often been called the “Me Generation.”  I suppose that is part of the reason that this self-esteem thing has gotten to be such a big deal.  So many of my contemporaries really do seem to believe that the world revolves around them.  The idea of having children so that they (the parents) can have the experience of childbirth has to be the worst idea I ever heard.  I’ve watched too many wonderful kids grow up without balance, without parents (having the poor substitute of a “friend” instead).  Kids don’t need an adult friend, they need someone to direct and nuture them.  A friend is someone who muddles alongside you; a parent ought to have something to teach, something to share, something to inspire.

Anyway…. I dont know why but this low self-esteem thing just seems bizarre to me.  We all have problems in life; and we all have choices to make about how to respond to them.  I think of this in the same vein as identical twins who go through similar experiences in life but one grows from them and the other becomes depressed and suicidal.  I’m no doctor, I’m no therapist, and I’m sure plenty of people disagree with me and will be vocal to prove it.  But it just seems like an excuse.

I admit — I grew up in the 50′s and 60′s — in a time when the world didn’t know boundaries.  It seemed as if we could do anything.  After all, we met President Kennedy‘s challenge to put a man on the moon.  But it was a different world in many ways, not just because of the can-do spirit.  OH, we had our Cold War and stepped close to nuclear destruction more times than the public probably knows about.  But it was also a country with much less regulation.  I believe from the bottom of my heart that many of the things we have now we could not afford to replicate.  The work force of the Civilian Conservation Corp, and the Works Progress Administration accomplished a lot by sheer manpower that would be considered unfair labor practices today.  We didn’t know about ground water pollution as we do now.  We didn’t give workers Viagra under insurance benefits, nor new body parts; it was a world that acknowledged that we all get old and eventually we die — we weren’t in a hurry to die back then, but neither were we preoccupied as a nation with vanity.

I don’t know….. I guess I just missed out on something.

But truth be told, I don’t mind.

* “Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is
pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water.”

* “Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the
cow instead of the bull.”

* “When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire.”

* “H20 is hot water, and CO2 is cold water.”

* “Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes, and caterpillars.”

* “Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on
them and makes them perspire.”

* “Mushrooms always grow in damp places and so they
look like umbrellas.”

* “The body consists of three parts – the brainium, the borax and
the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the
borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity
contains the bowels, of which there are five – a, e, i, o and u.”

* “Rhubarb: a kind of celery gone bloodshot.”

* “Vacuum: A large, empty space where the pope lives.”

* “For drowning: climb on top of the person and move up and
down to make Artificial Perspiration.”

* “For Fainting: Rub the person’s chest or, if a lady, rub her arm
above the hand instead. Or put the head between the knees of the
nearest medical doctor.”

* “The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana.”

* “The tides are a fight between the Earth and Moon. All water
tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon,
and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in
this fight.”

* “Equator: A managerie lion running around the Earth through Africa.”

* “Germinate: To become a naturalized German.”

* “To prevent contraception: wear a condominium.”

* “To keep milk from turning sour: keep it in the cow.”

You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key. You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. “How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. . . YEAH!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; “I was JUST 92.” Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. ” An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.
4. Enjoy the simple things.Ge
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.
   Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, friends, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
   improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

George Carlin’s views on aging.

We went for a walk at the marina again — our favorite place.  Actually, when we are both gone Katy’s gonna have instructions to spread our ashes together there.

But when we want to think, and when we want to chat about serious things we seem to gravitate to the water.  Not that we don’t talk about serious things during the winter — when talking at the water’s edge is a bit chilly.  But it’s a soothing and calming place that has always been just what we needed when we wanted to think and share ideas.

From the earliest days of our marriage — the spartan years in Chicago — we have sought out water.  From our first apartment on 37th and California forward we have gone down to the lake to talk. Like the men who “go down to the sea in ships” I guess.  Not necessarily for the sound of water; just for something oddly calming about the vastness of the Great Lake, and of our small place on the planet.

I wonder what will happen when we retire?  We are still quite undecided about what we shall actually do — there are a lot of details that have yet to be worked out — including deciding what to do about this house — But I don’t know that we will always be as close to the water as we have been most of our life — where will we go to talk?

Caught a few hours and got out for a walk about 9.

After an aborted attempt to walk at the marina (some run/walk going on) we drove out to Moose Lake.  Years ago my grandparents had a cottage there — in the 20′s and 30′s.  Somehow we got to chatting about things and Peggy could not “place” where it was.  So, on a beautiful day, when our brains really weren’t functioning, we decided to go for a drive.

It’s funny how since making the decision for her to retire that our brains seem to have gone on hiatus.  For a while already weekends have turned into times to recharge, not so much to actually accomplish new things.  But since making the decision and beginning to make plans for afterwards the weekends have just taken on new meaning…. really turning into the END of the week.

2. When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.

3. If you sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the
second person.

4. Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato.

5. You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.

6. Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.

7. Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

8. Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.

9. Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time.

10. School lunches stick to the wall.

11. You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

12. Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

13. The best place to be when you are sad is in Grandma’s lap.