Imbolc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Moon (Wild)<\/p>\n
“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”- Franz Kafka<\/p>\n
It’s not an especially significant birthday in the way of things.\u00a0 63 is a lull between OMG I’m in my 60’s and 65, the all purpose retirement age in former times.\u00a0 The lack of symbolic significance and its very ordinariness makes me happy to turn 63.\u00a0 I have no expectations about life at 63.\u00a0 So far, the 60’s have been kind to me.\u00a0 I’ve lost no friends, no family.\u00a0 With the exception of Kate’s back trouble, no one I know has a serious ongoing health problem.\u00a0 Frank Broderick who at 77 is now in his 15th year after his first heart attack manages his cardio problems, proving that even yesterday’s fatal condition can now fit into a long life.<\/p>\n
(Rembrandt self-portrait at 63)<\/p>\n
Turning the prism one more\u00a0 time 63 astonishes me.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because of its very ordinariness and because of its lack of symbolic significance.\u00a0 Not so long ago, say when I was in my teens, folks my age had begun to teeter toward a time of serious old age and disability.\u00a0 That point in life is still not on the observable horizon for me.\u00a0 In fact, it’s possible some number of us reaching this age will be relatively healthy and able until our final days.\u00a0 Quite a change.<\/p>\n
On a personal note I have made my peace with the world in terms of success.\u00a0 What I’ve had, little but some, will do.\u00a0 I enjoy the love of a good woman and five dogs here at home and the circle\u00a0 expands to nuclear family and extended family and friends like the Woollies, the docents and the Sierra Club folks.\u00a0 My days have meaningful labor that changes with the seasons.\u00a0 I live in a country I love, a state, and a home.<\/p>\n
Intellectually and creatively, it seems, I’ve just begun to come into my own, which means there are satisfying frontiers still ahead.<\/p>\n
Then there is Kafka.\u00a0 Kafka.\u00a0 What an odd and yet appropriate quote from\u00a0 him.\u00a0 He knew with fine detail the absurdity of modern life, yet he\u00a0 found aesthetics central to a life of real engagement.\u00a0 Me, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imbolc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Moon (Wild) “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”- Franz Kafka It’s not an especially significant birthday in the way of things.\u00a0 63 is a lull between OMG I’m in my 60’s and 65, the all purpose retirement age in former times.\u00a0 The lack of symbolic significance and its … Continue reading Turning 63<\/span>