JLibourel
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2004
- Messages
- 8,287
- Reaction score
- 501
Well, in a little over four hours, I will have gotten my "three score and ten," as the KJV Bible puts it, the big Seven-Oh.
Seventy these days is kind of an ambiguous age. When I was a younger fellow it was much less ambiguous--if you hit 70, you could be pretty sure checkout time was near. Deaths of people in their 60s were frequent and unsurprising; anyone remaining vigorous in to his (or more commonly her) 80s was considered quite remarkable; somebody living to 90 or beyond was extremely rare. For example, when my American grandparents expired at the ages of 73 and 76, we all felt they had attained ripe old ages. These days, a death in one's early 70s is seen as almost tragically premature, and all God's chillun are supposed to make it to 85 at least.
Frankly, the idea of living another 20 years strikes me as far more daunting than prospect of my demise in the not too distant future. Advances in medical technology, healthier lifestyles, better nutrition, statin drugs and such all seem to be combining to inflict an endless twilight of decrepitude on a great many of us. While a great many more people are living beyond their mid-70s, the quality of life seems to drop off sharply after that age...in the majority of cases, anyway.
Anyway, I am hanging in pretty well at the moment. Today, I walked my big dog a few miles, spent some time on the elliptical machine, did some flexibility work and then had a total body workout with the weights. However, the poundages are puny in comparison to what I could handle in my lusty prime, in many cases no more than half what I was using 30 years ago. I think of the line in Aeschylus' Agamemnon where the chorus of old men bemoan supporting their "childlike strength" on canes. It's depressing,,,and I won't even go into what's happened to the ol' sex drive.
So, if this forum should get word that I have expired sooner rather than later, be not over-saddened for me. I feel ready at any time to stride boldly into the darkness and into what lies beyond...if there is anything.
Well, just an old man's random maundering here. I realize there are few men like Alex the Tailor who are active in the forum and older than I, and there was one old fellow recently making much of the fact that he was 81. Nonetheless, leaving my 60s and entering my 70s makes me feel a bit older already, silly though that may sound. There is the current saying, "Sixty is the new 40," which strikes me as ridiculously optimistic, but there may be some truth to "80 is the new 70."
Seventy these days is kind of an ambiguous age. When I was a younger fellow it was much less ambiguous--if you hit 70, you could be pretty sure checkout time was near. Deaths of people in their 60s were frequent and unsurprising; anyone remaining vigorous in to his (or more commonly her) 80s was considered quite remarkable; somebody living to 90 or beyond was extremely rare. For example, when my American grandparents expired at the ages of 73 and 76, we all felt they had attained ripe old ages. These days, a death in one's early 70s is seen as almost tragically premature, and all God's chillun are supposed to make it to 85 at least.
Frankly, the idea of living another 20 years strikes me as far more daunting than prospect of my demise in the not too distant future. Advances in medical technology, healthier lifestyles, better nutrition, statin drugs and such all seem to be combining to inflict an endless twilight of decrepitude on a great many of us. While a great many more people are living beyond their mid-70s, the quality of life seems to drop off sharply after that age...in the majority of cases, anyway.
Anyway, I am hanging in pretty well at the moment. Today, I walked my big dog a few miles, spent some time on the elliptical machine, did some flexibility work and then had a total body workout with the weights. However, the poundages are puny in comparison to what I could handle in my lusty prime, in many cases no more than half what I was using 30 years ago. I think of the line in Aeschylus' Agamemnon where the chorus of old men bemoan supporting their "childlike strength" on canes. It's depressing,,,and I won't even go into what's happened to the ol' sex drive.
So, if this forum should get word that I have expired sooner rather than later, be not over-saddened for me. I feel ready at any time to stride boldly into the darkness and into what lies beyond...if there is anything.
Well, just an old man's random maundering here. I realize there are few men like Alex the Tailor who are active in the forum and older than I, and there was one old fellow recently making much of the fact that he was 81. Nonetheless, leaving my 60s and entering my 70s makes me feel a bit older already, silly though that may sound. There is the current saying, "Sixty is the new 40," which strikes me as ridiculously optimistic, but there may be some truth to "80 is the new 70."
