During the ski season I have a great routine for my day. For six days of the week I am up and about early enough to be at the ski slope by 9:00 AM for a 9:30 AM ride on the lift. Unless there are purely horrible conditions I keep this schedule without fail. Maybe in my geezerhood I am quite rigid about my schedule. I also enjoy the routine of a morning coffee break with my fellow geezers followed by a few more runs often past noon or even until 1:00 PM. I am subject to a certain amount of ribbing by my companions as I eat my daily apple fritter with my coffee. Thank God I am not a diabetic as some of my contemporaries are. The fritter routine is a year round habit!
Many of my companions check out after coffee but several of us head out for additional exercise. During the ski season beyond the joy of skiing the activity serves as appropriate exercise. Post skiing volunteer work may be the next part of the day. The gift of retirement is also an opportunity for an afternoon nap for recharging.
Now that the season is over I am returning to a modified routine. With an ailing back I have a year round exercise in the morning to iron out the kinks and get me into the day. During the off season or non skiing days I spend up to an hour pedaling a recumbent stationary bike. A good time to read the papers and catch up on e-mails. The time goes by quickly and I hardly know I am working out. The bike is nicely place in a glassed in sun-porch so I can watch neighbors walking by on the road as well as the birds flying about. The rest of the day is taken up with a variety of activities and tasks. I delight in solving each day at least two crossword puzzles. My wife recognizes that I am probably a crossword puzzle solving addict.
As a reader you may wonder why I have rambled on about my routines in this blog? I am speculating whether other geezers are heavily locked into their routines? I know some are fishermen, and others are avid golfers. As an observer from afar I see many golfers who have specific regular days and tee times. I know when my routine is disturbed I can find it troubling. At other times I find a disturbance a welcome change of pace. Bottom line. Often oldsters can get real cranky if the routine is disturbed. However, to stay young in spirit I hope that if my routine is disturbed I can still be flexible enough to adapt. Meanwhile I will enjoy my routines and at the same time look forward to new experiences.
2 comments:
The switch from our daily ski routine to the dreaded mud season is under hard to adjust to. Yesterday I decided to drive to Ithaca and visit my buddies at the boat shop and on the way I found myself driving up south hill road to look for the cabin that sits on top of Olympian. Upon coming to the end of the road I realized it was only about 3/4 up the slope. I parked the car and walked out to Olympian and stood looking up at the top. Thinking to myself! You ski down this thing? Also had many good recollections of my days skiing with my Geezer friends. A minute before the alter of life. Somehow it’s always a little sad to look back. Yes indeed the adjustment is hard and my wife has pointed out that i haven’t been my usual happy self.
Soon the sun will come out and I as well will start my honey do list.
Geezer in training,
Tim
Ah, yes, the inevitable post-skiing honey do list. (it is a long wait getting to it!)
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