Thoughts on Aging

Let's start by saying that aging is better than the alternative - - some days, just not much better.

For family and friends back East, living in the Sierra Nevada foothills is not like living elsewhere. First of all, our summers are hot and dry. Any smaller vegetation not watered turns brown and goes dormant. Add to that the fact that we are "fire prone", and it's not a good thing. Consequently, we are under orders to cut all dry vegetation within 100' of any structure.

Now, think about a very, really very, steep lot, with maybe 2/3's of it's 1.3 acre having to be whacked. Too rugged and too steep for a mower, so that means a weed whacker all the way. Since The Man is working 5 days a week in Sequoia Park, this 60+ year old woman has undertaken to do the weed whacking.




Which brings me to AGING. In my misguided youth I could work all day, party all night, get up and do it again. Now, a couple of hours with a weed whacker is pure hell. By the time I got to the last section (I divided it up to do in manageable pieces), I never wanted to see or hear the weed whacker again.

Throw in FF, and it gets really ugly. If I started at the top of my head and worked down listing everything that hurts, I'd bore you and me both to death!

Good news is that the job is done. Well, except for a couple of small areas. We water at the top of a couple of banks where I've planted. That results in stuff on those banks and at the bottom continuing to grow a bit. Nowhere near as much as earlier in the year thought. We could conceivably get our first 100 degree day later this week, and not much is wanting to grow.

So, I ache. I look in the mirror and suddenly remember that the person looking back is ME. Oh my God. Happens to the best of us. I need to get back to afternoon naps in my hammock rather than whackin' weeds around it.



Some things, and I'm not talkin' wine, do get better with age.

Scottie's onion is beautiful.


Last fall I had an onion starting to sprout and said to The Man that it would not be good any more. He decided to plant it. And she is blooming. Beautifully. For the botanically challenged, onions are alliums. And alliums get these gorgeous heads on them. I just never would have thought of an old onion as a garden plant. Guess you know where any onions that sprout in this house will be headed.