Saturday, November 2, 2019

Getting Older

Here I sit, pretty much exhausted even after a nap.
I started at 6:30 this morning heading out to the Mount's Horticultural Garden plant sale. They really treat their members well. First stop after you pass 60 is the bathroom and then you plant your  itinerary. This Garden is huge and we oldsters are soon seeking out benches upon which to rest. This really ticks the biting ants off.
In my case, being a diabetic, my internal thermostat no longer works properly and though I was trying hard to go slowly, the heat quickly got to me and I started sweating more water than I could easily replenish. We also have to eat on time and forgetting how early I started the day I didn't realize how light headed I was at 11 AM when George bought me a hot dog. When I finally stumbled out of the garden, I had lost my bi-focal sunglasses. Sitting in the van I made the decision that all oldsters do, is it worth going back. I calculated the age of the glasses and the fact that I needed stronger ones and decided it wasn't worth it. This is sort of like bending over to pick something up, do you really need  it now and is there something nearby on the floor to make it worthwhile.
On the way home we started talking about an off-the-grid group we belong to. It is comprised mainly of under 50 people all raring to live off the grid and the land. They bounce ideas for everything back and forth except for the rather obvious one, first aid and old age. Yes, it may be the grand adventure until you need to be stitched up and you can't get off the property because of the weather. Few know anything at all about natural remedies and aren't even trying to learn. Then comes the day you cross that age threshold and the pains kick in and there is no one out there to help. Do  you know how much a bucket of water weighs? A gallon of water weighs 8 1/3 pounds. A bucket usually has 4 -5 gallons in it. Chicken feed comes in 25 and 50 pound bags. What happens when you have a crop failure?
Nope, they are more concerned with wood stoves than what is actually going to determine survival, food and medical. Perhaps this is very apparent to me because of my age, but some of them just have no idea about anything. One woman is concerned about her little children because a mountain lion crosses her property regularly. In the country, you DO NOT take your eyes off small children. Mountain lion? How about snakes, poisonous plants and insects? My mother took her eyes off me at 3 for about 2 minutes and I brought her the mother earthworm. You should have heard her scream. It was a snake. All those cribs and playpens were designed and built in the country, first. You can bet, as one woman pointed out, Mother Mountain Lion is watching her babies every minute and she is a predator. I won't even go into the guy who got a lot of cheap land in a flood  zone and thinks he got a great deal. Hint: flood zone is not flood plain. In a flood zone it floods regularly. I hope he is planning on a stilt house. But why would you build in either?
I love California but one look at the fire hazard, the mud slides and the earthquakes and I said, take me home to occasional hurricane. I can easily survive a hurricane but those three are very fatal. I can't imagine living above ground in a tornado area.
Perhaps I am more cautious with age or maybe I just have a bit more sense.

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