Ellen:
No need to test whether I’m Ruth’s sister, either. Though I have these periodic fits when I blare music (usually classic rock) and twitch my limbs in appreciation, these happen at greater and greater intervals, and I think the last live music event I attended was in the late ‘70s. Now I’d swear it was a Willie Nelson-endorsed non-stop concert…but it couldn’t have been his famed “picnic”, could it? Why would he have opted to throw that on the fairgrounds in the middle of a miserable Dallas July? Well, the real question is, why did my husband and I elect to attend? Free tickets, courtesy of the radio station where I worked at the time. I remember no more than faraway twangs and tweedles of music. Not a glimpse of Willie or anyone else highly touted. We stayed far too long despite the misery and, sunburned, dehydrated and grouchy, did not come back to life until after a couple pitchers of beer in a delightfully frigid Pizza Hut. I like music only sometimes. As for crowds, I think even the Second Coming would fail to draw me.
Despite the title of the blog and my years, I don’t usually feel like a geezer. This week has been an exception. I remember discussing jet lag with my brother-in-law before I left Texas last week. I was impressed that he admits it exists. It exists, but, we agreed, no point in whining about it. So I won’t, except to say it doesn’t improve with age and I am happy the fog has finally lifted.
It’s back to real life after a wonderful visit. I am accustomed to post-vacation blues, and it’s startling and encouraging to find I’m not having a bout. While I miss Ruth et al., I don’t feel the sluggish gloom that used to persist after visits abroad. Maybe because I think I am finally getting a life.
I’m now fully equipped to meet real winter head-on, after shopping with friends. I have everything from waterproof footwear with enough traction to scale a moonscape to a fluffy wool muffler…but right now, no challenge! Yesterday was lovely and today is positively warm. Well, it’s not even mid-January, so there’s plenty of time ahead to learn about living with winter.
Copyright 2008 by Ellen Dlott
