Two Steps Slower

     When a baseball player begins to reach the end of his career you will frequently hear the commentator say, "He looked a step slower in making it to first base on that ground ball".   Speed decreases and reaction time increases as one ages whether it is a baseball player or just us ordinary folks among the geezer population.
      Yesterday my wife and I took the AARP Driver Safety Program course.   This was a six hour program with review and instruction intended to improve and maintain safe driving for senior and perhaps not so senior drivers.   I had taken this course maybe eight years ago for the first time and even trained to be an instructor.   (Must be they had plenty of instructors since they never called me for a class).  Our instructor was excellent and we learned about some of the newer driving laws as well as picked up some tips to insure safer driving.   This course is so good I would recommend it for everyone.  One of the exercises was to determine our reaction times.   I always thought I had above average reaction time.  To my surprise my reaction time was only average.

How Quick Can you Grab the Ruler?

 So I guess I must be at least that "one step slower" now.   Perhaps I am even creeping over into the "two steps slower" category.    I played some doubles tennis on this past Friday  which was also a test of my reaction time.   With focus, I still had pretty good reaction at the net.  Perhaps this was because some of the balls were coming right at me and I didn't want to get hit.   Motivation and fear can reduce your reaction time.
     Yes, I may be moving at a rate of two steps slower now (the coeds all pass me when I am walking briskly on the Cornell Campus).   However, maybe that is alright since I get to savor the things around me.   Like stopping to smell the roses,  inhaling the  fresh air and noticing the beauty that I missed by rushing through life before.

Bucket List

     I guess everyone has had a bucket list at one time or another.   As one proceeds through geezerhood a bucket list begins to have higher priority because probably there is less time to check off items.   I don't put much store in bucket lists.   For the most part I have been able to see the things in the world that I really yearned to see and have done adventurous things when the opportunity has arisen.   Therefore, I like living in the moment and being surprised when new opportunities come by chance.
    However, there have been things that I have really wanted to experience.    Probably over 10 years ago I had wanted to see a live show of the Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor.   That wish was granted when he appeared at Bailey Hall on the Cornell University campus.   Unfortunately daughter Victoria and I were seated almost behind a column that seriously restricted our view.    We enjoyed the show but we certainly would have been more comfortable with better seating.   Since that time in the last few years I have enjoyed three more mid April live performances of the Prairie Home Companion show at Town Hall on 43rd Street in New York City with daughter Victoria.   Because  my birthday comes in mid-April these shows are now becoming a celebratory tradition.    It was a grand show this past Saturday and we had wonderful seats with an unobstructed view.

Finale at Town Hall April 14, 2012

      Leading up to the show we toured Bryant Park and enjoyed 75 cent a slice pizza (tax included).   Imagine that in New York City!  We even have photo proof.

With Son-in-Law Matt

     Walking the Brooklyn Bridge was also a part of our weekend adventure.    I guess you could call that a bucket list activity too.   As an engineer, it is almost a must to have actually visited this engineering marvel since this is the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world.   The bridge was undergoing some repairs as one might expect for a 129 year old structure.   I guess you could call it a geezer bridge.   Wikipedia summarizes its importance as follows.
"The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning theEast River. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge."

Suspension Wires and a Tower -A Happy Geezer

     Our entire weekend was full of adventure and fun and even included for Nancy and I a Seder at our daughter's in-laws home.   No need for bucket lists.   New adventures and experiences come spontaneously.  

Birthday Reflections

  By the time one has become a geezer, you have experienced a plethora of birthdays.   Today marks my 77th so I have pause to reflect on birthdays past and birthday traditions  I've experienced.   The family of my youth made very little note of birthdays.  In fact I can't remember any particular celebrations of my birthdays throughout my toddler, preteen or teen years.   As a child of the  World War II era, there were few resources for celebrations with gifts and special foods.   Perhaps my memory is failing but I think I may have had a cake on my birthday.  However, candles would have been in short supply.
   My father was not a very demonstrative man.   He seemed to be embarrassed to overtly show affection.   The one memorable gift of my childhood birthdays was given on my 11th birthday of April 11, 1946.  With the war over consumer goods began to appear.   On the afternoon of my 11th birthday my father arrived home, stepped out his car and tossed a rectangular box to me.   What a surprise!  Inside was a brand new high quality softball.   This is still a most delightful memory 66 years later.

A Special Gift on my 11th Birthday

   During my adult life I have been blessed with many joyous birthday celebrations.   Both my 70th and 75th birthdays were milestone events with my dear wife Nancy assuring that they would be special occasions with friends and family.   Although today is my official birth date, this past Sunday  much of the family gathered for our Easter dinner that had a birthday cake especially for me.   This weekend will include another celebration with our youngest daughter.   My dearth of early year birthday celebrations certainly has been amply compensated for in my adult years.
   Probably birthdays are such special things because they celebrate the beginning of existence as well a markers along the way of ones earthly life span.  After initial birth the continuing birthdays can be the mechanism to celebrate being a part of the great universal cosmos.

A Happy 75th Birthday

Unexpected Pleasures

   In conversation with my wife a week ago or so, the subject of sauerbraten entered our discussion.   Maybe I was reminiscing about my annual professional society meetings in Chicago when I would go to a German restaurant on the Loop for a meal including sauerbraten.   This also jogged my memory about a dorm mate from my freshmen year at Syracuse University, John Hoenig.   John entered this discussion because I once visited him during a break to go to a German Club in Rochester, New York.   During the visit I dined with his family and was treated to a dinner including sauerbraten.   These were fond memories of gustatory pleasure.    Unexpected as well as expected pleasures.

Mouthwatering Entree of Sauerbraten

    This story continues.   My dear wife over the next few days unknown to me,  took the sauerbraten discussion to heart and to my unexpected pleasure she researched a sauerbraten recipe on line and meticulously prepared a heavenly meal including sauerbraten about a week later.   Her sauerbraten dish was certainly much better than any I had had before.  Not only was this meal a special gustatory delight, but it was also a celebration of the wonderful devotion and love of my wife of nearly 30 years.   Surely I am blessed.  Life for me is full of unexpected pleasures!

Withdrawal

     Since my last posting on March 12, 2012 the ski season in my local area has ended.   Friday March 17, 2012 was the last day at Greek Peak ending at noon.   After skiing on the Thursday before, I even missed the last day without much regret in view of the conditions.   Because I am accustomed to skiing throughout March, I am definitely in the the throes of withdrawing from skiing almost every day.   I hate global warming!  If that is what is causing my shortened season.    Meanwhile all my associates are reveling in the warm weather.  On the Cornell Campus today I even photographed the blossoms on the trees in front of Riley-Robb Hall.
    As part of my remedy for withdrawal from skiing I am fortunate to transition to tennis almost every day and even tennis out doors with such balmy weather.   Wife Nancy is a formidable opponent on the tennis court so both of us benefit by having a live-in partner for our tennis adventures.  Another remedy for the transition is to clean all my ski gear and properly store it until the beginning of next season.   Now that all those activities are behind me, I guess I can put the thoughts of skiing to bed and get on with grass mowing, tennis and other activities for the spring and summer.  Probably the thing that prolongs my withdrawal is the pictures of skiing in Utah that my son has posted on Facebook on almost a daily basis since the end of February.   Utah has had some magnificent snowfalls in that period.   However, as a geezer I have to recognize that I am no longer able to master the steeps and deeps that he regularly skis with his companions and family.    I will be satisfied with taking vicarious pleasure in his photos of his adventures.


   I hope that this has been a once in a life time kind of seasons for our local ski area.   I would summarize this season as several weeks of beginning and ending of season scratchy skiing bracketing  a main season of wide swings in slope conditions.   Fortunately there were several days of excellent skiing to keep us going.   I must end with the observation that I am indeed fortunate to have enjoyed 69 days on the slopes this year which is 11 times the average number of days of skiing by skiers in the USA.   Geezer life is good and the season pass for next year has been purchased.   Looking forward to appropriate geezer skier adventures in the off  season.

December 22, 2011 - The Beginning

February 12, 2012 - A Great Mid-Season Day

March 12, 2012 - Beginning of the End of Season

Spring - A Rash of Trash

    We are in the waning days of the ski season.   Extremely warm days and nights have devastated the base and more warm weather is on its way.   There is great beauty in both spring and winter.  Winter snow cover can be beautiful white in contrast with the browns and grays of the trees.   Spring beauty comes with the promise of new flowers and the budding of the trees.   Bare patches begin to green up with the increased temperatures and sunlight.
   However, spring does reveal the trash.    I always thought that skiers should be appreciative of the mountain environment and want to maintain the quality of their surroundings.   Unfortunately humankind has people who would rather throw the trash from the ski lift than carry it to a trash can.   I feel a sort of affinity for the ski area which means I expect respect for the environment.   Sunday while riding up Chair 2 at Greek Peak, I was struck by the accumulation of trash under the lift line.   The photo captures some of the worst of it near one of the towers.    It only takes one piece of trash to start a cascade of further trash.   Just like I have said before that little things make a difference, it only takes one irresponsible person to start a rash of trash.     I remember the days when roadsides were extensively littered with trash.   Anti-litter campaigns have been partially successful in reducing roadside trash in part due to serious fines for littering.   I would like to institute a ski area ordinance of $100 fines for  littering from the lift.   The proceeds would  go to support the Adaptive Ski Sports program.   What do you all think?

Trash Under the Tower at Left

A Bad Day of Skiing?

   Is there such a thing as a bad day of skiing for the avid skier?   I don't think so.  Three geezers started out for the slopes this morning after a very warm night and a devastating loss of snow on the slopes.   Everything looked pretty scratchy on the hill with ice spots, bare spots and water ponding at the lift area.   Three of us went up and three came down.   One departed and then it was up to Andy and I to represent the geezer skiers.
   We managed to adapt to the conditions and survived six runs before we allowed ourselves a coffee break.   Actually it wasn't as bad as one might think.  There were paths down the slope we could still navigate without hitting the dirt.   There was even a group of instructors getting training from a PSIA rep.   Certainly a day to tune up your ability to adapt to any conditions.
   Since we were aiming for a full official day of twelve runs, Andy and I went out to the slopes post coffee break.  Larry had coffee with us to give us courage to continue but he retired to his condo in anticipation of his luncheon hamburger.   During the remainder of the the day we managed another five runs until the rain discouraged us from continuing.   To make the day official we awarded ourselves a one run handicap to make our official twelve.
   No, there is really no such thing as a bad day of skiing!

Thin and Bare - March 8, 2012

Water Pond at the Lift