You Are Cordially Invited…

Growing old in our culture has often been associated with pain, suffering, and even humiliation. At best, we learn to manage the pain and, rather than face outright dismissal, we are tolerated—granted a certain leniency for moving and thinking more slowly, for our moments of forgetfulness. Modern medicine and research have given us the ability… Read more

I’m not against technology! Most of my friends would disagree with that statement.  I remember when our living room TV had a pair of rabbit ears on the top.  It was magical, but all it did was allow us to catch magical vibrations going through the air and winding up as moving pictures on a… Read more

There are many Septuagenarians who are continuing active lives that directly contribute to their fitness.  For them, not much has changed that physically taxes their bodies.  As a result, their muscles, bones, mobility, flexibility, and stamina may not be what they once were, but they are still robust and functioning effectively.  However, for those of… Read more

These are difficult times in which we are living.  I was never very good at coping skills.  I am very good at expecting the worst to happen and then when it doesn’t I am pleasantly surprised.  During these times, however, I just can’t imagine what the worst could be.  The thought of even contemplating worst… Read more

Dear Readers, We want to thank Diana, one of our followers, for submitting the following question to our blog: “How does technology impact your life?  There is a stereotype of older adults that they don’t understand or are less capable of effectively using technology.  But I find seniors are just as likely as someone younger… Read more

We three Old (and growing older!) Guys have decided that indeed, you can teach an old dog new tricks!  So, in the interest of refreshing our blog and continuing this adventure we began precisely 6 years ago, we are inviting you, our readers, to engage with us more actively so that we might bring you… Read more

How carefully do you chose the words you speak?  Do you pause to find the best word you know to match your meaning or intention as closely as you can?  Do you over promise and under deliver when you give someone your word?  When you say, “ Let me be honest…” are you saying you’re… Read more

This idea of downsizing has been haunting me for a long time. As I get closer to the big 80, it just has to be done however my ability to procrastinate far exceeds my need to do certain things, one of which is downsizing.  I like to collect things, pretty things, practical things, meaningful things. … Read more

Many years ago I was traveling with two buddies toward the Florida Keys when we stopped at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to try our luck at gambling.  I decided to sit down at a low stakes poker table to apply my newly learned skills at a game called Texas Hold’em.  I sat… Read more

My brother and I were not very close when I was a kid.  He was 8 years older than I was  He was born before WWII and I was born 9 months from the time my dad got back from Iwo Jima. As a result I was just a pest to him and we had… Read more

Next week I celebrate my 78th birthday!  That actually means I have already lived 78 years and will be starting my 79th year.  The common greeting now when old friends meet and share their ages is, “How did this happen?”  Because 78 sounds very old I have decided to divide my longevity not into years,… Read more

Wood is a wonderful material: it has direction which can be surprising and pleasing – parts which show the strength gained by adapting to strong winds, as well as seasonal temperature changes. Individual trees may vary in coloration caused by the absorption of particular minerals. They display evidence where they fight against disease or decay.… Read more

Teresa and I often walk Duke through our neighborhood in the early morning or late evening or both.  Earlier this week, we noticed one of two book sharing station situated between two properties alongside the road.  Much to her surprise, Teresa noticed that a number of books by one of her favorite authors were there… Read more

Two professors from Bowling Green University taught me an important lesson: don’t crowd two topics into one message. But here I am thinking about freewill vs. determinism, heritage, secrets, and judgement. Now, my DNA analysis shows the majority of my paternal heritage is concentrated in Southern England with an admixture of Danish, Swedish and French.… Read more

It began as a conversation over dinner with my friend George (not my blogging buddy but a different George)  It was the kind of dialogue that begins with (“Wouldn’t it be cool to…”) Being bikers, we had often heard stories of the mecca to Sturgis in the Black Hills of South Dakota held each year… Read more

I’m looking at a cedar log and wondering how it’s going to help me make sense of my life. For the better part of a year, a question has been rattling around in my head – an earworm that just won’t go away: how would you symbolically represent your life? I believe that this topic… Read more

As all years that are in our past, there are events and experiences that we wished hadn’t happened and those that we recall fondly.  This post is about those things we remember favorably about 2023 and those that we hope to recall joyfully, at the end of this year. Last year’s favorable experiences: Mine included… Read more

This blog, for me, is a way of recording who I am and, when my physical being ceases to function, who I have been.  This is a collection of my thoughts, ideas, opinions, and personal stories targeted for my children and grandchildren (but available to any who wish to know of me).   I love… Read more

Society depends on symbols. Symbols are used to keep us safe on the road where they direct us which way to go, where people might be crossing, or deer or where road crews might be working. They tell us where it is safe to park and where handicapped people can park to make it easier… Read more

The other day I was congratulating myself on coming to grips with the preferences in my life. Usually, I take things as they come without a lot of examination. But, I thought, after being on this earth for over 75 years, I should have defined a certain set of clear likes and dislikes based on… Read more

Somewhere between the acceptance of my diminishing capacity due to aging and the notion that I am capable of maintaining my current level of physical and mental activity lies a balance. And living in this balance, is, for me, the best way to enter the winter of my life.  In other words, while I won’t… Read more

I never liked being alone.  Even as a little kid I didn’t enjoy my own company.  My dad worked in Manhattan at a 9 to 5 job and my mom worked at our local hospital from midnight til 8 in the morning,  So when I came home from school I was alone from 3 til… Read more

I have been struggling for a few weeks now.  A very close friend was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer that had metastasized in his liver, lungs and lymph nodes.   It was a very bleak diagnosis without much hope of any curative procedures addressing it.  One night around 9pm he called me and said he just got… Read more

We make decisions, sometimes with certainty, but almost always followed by doubts.  And so it is with my decision to finally buy a house and property that feels perfect for me, for now but not what I spent more than two years in search of. As one of the three “Old Guys” who walked into a… Read more

“Thoughts and prayers” – it’s become a meme; words which have suffered from ‘semantic satiation’ (as reported by CNN). That is, a phrase repeated so often as to lose any significance. But I have some thoughts about prayers. I believe it is justifiable to view the ‘thoughts and prayers’ incantation in a cynical way, when… Read more

I remember growing up and well into my adult years when someone rang my doorbell or knocked on my door, a kind of rush would go through me in anticipation of guests arriving. Often it was the Jehovah Witnesses, but hey, it was unexpected, it was a change in routine, and offered an unexpected surprise- usually… Read more

I love spending time moving through nature.  Before I relocated to Delaware I had the advantage of hiking daily from the front door of my house as well as driving to known hiking trails to join several area Meetup groups whose leaders and regular members were familiar to me.  In November of last year, I decided it… Read more

I’m going on two years now in my attempt to find and buy my next and likely last, home.  Each week, when I participate in my Zoom call with the other two “old guys” my blog partners inquire about my search.  The last time we spoke, they suggested that this might be a potential blogging topic or… Read more

Feeling very nostalgic lately.  Always, after Christmas, the ritual of taking the tree down is bitter sweet.  Since the kids are grown that job is left for me to do all alone and stirs up the memories quite strongly.  I take the ornaments off one at a time and by categories.  The home made ones… Read more

I have always enjoyed driving.  Car selection for me was as much for the style and fun factor as it was for function.  Each purchase provided me with a host of experiences and stories, some of which I find interesting enough to share. My first car was a used 1957 Volkswagen that I bought in 1967.  It was… Read more

Even as a youngster I was always interested in going to antique shops and what we called junk shops back then.  My friend Adele and I would go through old deserted houses with her mom to see what was left behind.  In the darkness of an old house we would go from room to room to… Read more

How good are you at estimating time?  That is, how accurate are you when you guesstimate how long it will take you to finish something or arrive somewhere? Teresa and I spent one day last week visiting nearby Pennsylvania.  Our plan was to visit Kennett Square, known as the mushroom capital of the world for growing and… Read more

Linda and I are doing our monthly drive to the Adirondacks, and she says, “Did you see all those turkeys by the side of the road – there were eighteen of them along with two jakes?” and I reply: “Nope, I’m watching the road.” She says, “Look at where those wildflowers used to be in… Read more

In junior high school, a concept that no longer exists, we were required to take a course in typing, to prepare us for the future.  We each sat in front of a typewriter, a machine that no longer exists, that had no letters on the keys.  Instead we had to look up at the blackboard,… Read more

The need to be heard is deeply embedded in me.  When I feel the listener gets what I’m trying to convey (even if they don’t agree) a physical sense of contentment comes over me.  On the flip side, when my words are ignored or replaced with the listener’s own story or interests, a combination of anger, upset,… Read more

When we started this blog, it was our goal to depict a first-person record of our thoughts for our friends, children and grandchildren. Maybe this record could start a conversation or provide an insight that would benefit someone. Sometimes this writing is tough for me, because I’m just an ‘everyman’, whose experiences are mostly alike… Read more

Not long ago, while meeting friends for lunch in uptown Kingston, I happened to park where I have many times before. Kingston is known for its old stone houses, In fact, the “Stockade” four corners is an intersection whose claim to fame is that it is the oldest four corners of original stone houses from the late 1600’s in America and survived… Read more