Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wife Got Me Thinking...

The original post was beautifully written.

Mr. Chamberlain, You ever do any professional writing?

And I can't recall that we have any month that I have not seen 100 or really dang close to it at some point over the years...only put wood in the stove twice this last "winter"

Thank you. Yes, I have three novels on Amazon.

I thought getting old was a PITA, but being old is worse. 'Course if I had thought I was gonna live this long I woulda took better care of myself and taken fewer chances!

I think I'm the reverse...all summer long, drenched in sweat, only enjoying morning and evening...I can't wait for cold and starting the woodstove.

Anytime I hear daddy red bird singing and smell Texas Mountain Laurel blooming I'm instantly transported back to the east side of Cedar Mountain
In Llano county. Same for me now as it was almost 40 years ago!

The other night, my wife commented that she missed being young. She's only 56... (don't tell her I let that slip.)

It was a rather cold night and I found myself pondering this a bit when I took the dog out. It was freezing. I remembered when I was a kid, freezing didn't mean what it does now. I could play all day in the snow, even after losing sensation in the toes. I loved playing in the snow, even after the snot froze to my lip! Sledding, snow-ball fights, skating, skiing...playing Friggin "Nanuk of the North!"

Now, cold is damned uncomfortable. But, standing there, waiting for the dog to decide which square foot she was going to baptize, I closed my eyes and breathed in the cold. It felt the same as when I was a kid. Same effect on the nose hairs! Same smell. Nothing different.

Then I opened my eyes and looked into the Southwestern sky and being a cold, winter night, Orion was right there, where he'd always been, and I found myself remembering that since childhood, I'd never tired of seeing Orion for the first time every year...and being a bit disappointed when I'd look up and realize he was gone for the season.

The other day, I was at Dairy Queen. I was having a cone and my 22 year old daughter was having a strawberry sundae. You have to realize, that when she was 3, I introduced her to Dairy Queen strawberry sundaes and that's all she ever orders from there. When she was 3, she's stand on the seat and I'd spoon it into her like a little bird! Now, at 22 she can feed herself - but I still buy.

I looked around and noted there were a lot of geriatrics present. They were all having soft serve deserts of one sort or another. Many of them were on the far side of 80. I wondered if the ice-cream tasted any different to them, than the first time they'd ever had it? It tastes the same to me. My father introduced me to the peanut buster parfait - which was his favorite. I haven't had one in years. He's been gone since 1990 and the next time I go to Dairy Queen, I'm having one...just to see if it tastes like I remember.

My wife and I took a 5 mile speed walk Saturday. On the walk, I tried to feel different at 61 than I did when I was 16. But the muscles were still strong, the breathing controlled, the heart rate right where it should be for that level of exercise. No sore muscles, no aching in the calves. Same sweat on my chest and back. Later, I stiffened up after relaxing, but I remember that happening after a grueling track and field event when I was in high school too. Nothing really different.

So, I'm not sure I miss being young. There is a certain melancholy that comes when I realize the road ahead is shorter than the one I've already traveled, but so far, no complaints.

But, one final thought I'd like to leave with you. Now that I've practiced nursing for 9 years, I have to tell you, good health is a God Send, but it can be fleeting. You will pay for the mistakes you've made and the abuse you've given yourself. So many of my patients are very old and very infirm. So, don't make fun of them. Think of their faces as a mirror you will one day gaze into. Then close your eyes, and take a bite of Strawberry Sundae - and savor it.

I think I'm the reverse...all summer long, drenched in sweat, only enjoying morning and evening...I can't wait for cold and starting the woodstove.

If'n I'd let go of the gate BEFORE that big heifer ran over me, I wouldn't have to had the left shoulder re-built!

If'n I'd had my butt planted, I wouldn't have taken that "swan dive" off the feed truck, that resulted in needing my right shoulder re-built!

I even married (UP) to a fine lady, who puts up with my foibles (to an extent) - Kaywoodie claims she is "adult supervision"