Dancing Dinosaur

I am old. I was young for a very long time, but now - I am truly old. Not ancient, mind you, but old. My children are horrified at this label I apply -they assure me I am anything but OLD. We "boomers" are never supposed to use the dreaded "O-word." We are the generation that has made Youthful a mandate - a religion - a inalienable right. And indeed, I might be "youthful" but when you look at the years, count the days, do the math - I am old. Not such a bad thing when you consider the alternative. Time only goes in one direction. We still haven't figured out how to shift into reverse - although that would be so useful. So, the alternative to old is dead. Given the options - I choose OLD. I grab hold of old around the ankles and hang on for dear life. I want to be old for a long time.

Staying old is a challenge. There are lots of dangers out there that would hasten one to the next step. Dodging these, or confronting them head-on is all part of a days work for the staying oldster, but these usually don't make for very interesting discussion. (In fact, a sure signpost that one is tumbling towards "ancient" is the "Let me tell you about my gout" syndrome (or worse - it can get far worse than that.)

So what shall we talk about? Let's talk about the dancing. Lets talk abou the two-steps, wiggle your buns, slow waltzing, leaps for joy, swaying in contentment that we do each day to celebrate what is. Lets talk about looking forward ( a little) but mostly lets talk about looking here! There is nothing so important as now, this time, this day. The next moment may knock us over like one of those rogue waves I didn't notice while floating blistfully on my back in the surf. But thrown to the bottom and being raked over the rough sand and sharp shells, I am so much better off for having had that sweet moment of weightlessness. Standing on the shore, safe and dry isn't really all that safe and dry anyway. You can't look in all directions at once and sometimes that surf just swoops around and gets you from behind. Far better to go out there and dance in the waves isn't it?