I’ve reached a point in my life where I’ve got an informal list of things I that I am too old to do any more. I’m embracing my old age, making end of life decisions while I still have the spunk to do so.
Mrs S considers my list of things as a sign that I’m “giving up” in some way. I’d say it’s experience teaching me about life.
I’m writing this from Incline Village Nevada, on the shores of scenic Lake Tahoe. Which is what made me think of this list. The first thing I added to that list, several years ago was skiing. Last time I skied, which I think was about 2014, all I could think about while going down the mountain was something that sounded in my head sounded like “I’m going to break a hip here” but sounded to anyone around me like “SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT”.
I blame my beloved sister in law for that. She sent me up a lift that, had I known the slope of the hill, I would have passed on. She insisted that I needed to “stretch” myself or I wouldn’t get any better at skiing.
Seriously? 55 years old how fucking “better” do I need to get? I just want to have a few gentle and scenic rides down the mountain. Ideally ending up at bar stool at the lodge.
So, I’m done. Skiing is in my rear view mirror.
We got to Tahoe on Tuesday morning. The circumstances of which induced me add another thing to my list: red eye flights.
I’m told that a flight that arrives at 12:00 AM is not officially a red eye. The brother in law claims, after listening to me whine a bit, that real red-eyes are those leaving at midnight, not arriving. I was just on a late flight.
No matter. I have no business being on a plane after the streetlights come on.
Still.
Arriving in Tahoe at 1:30 AM local time, 3:30 AM body time.. takes a couple days to recover from at my age. Mrs S had the same thought. Kills the whole next day.
In her sage word “I’m to old for this shit”. I agree, hell we agree on something.
We arrived in Tahoe ahead of a little snow event that is forecast to drop 8-10 feet of snow over the next three days. The weather man on the Reno station last night said the lake could expect to receive an amount of snow which he described as “gobs”. I don’t know exactly what meteorological school teaches weather in that term. For those of you in Minnesota, that translates to “shit-ton”. Let’s say it’s a lot.
The good news I’m watching someone elseshovel it.
So I’m going to add Snow Removal to my list of things that I’m too old to do anymore.
World, I am too old to shovel snow.
OK that’s more aspirational than actual. ‘Cause ain’t no one else gonna do it at my house. But, a guy can hope.
This morning I was tapped to make a trip to the grocery store. A round trip of about 4 miles. Probably a foot of snow had fallen already, and it was coming down hard. But. You know, I’m from Minnesota, that means I can drive in snow. Doesn’t hurt that my beloved Sister in Law has a nifty Subaru to boot. No problemo for a guy like me. And it wasn’t, except for that one little stretch thats downhill. Did a bit of guided falling/sliding on that part.
By the time I parked, got the stuff, pushed a shopping cart through the snow, loaded stuff in the car and got home, I did feel like I had just completed the Iditarod. Snow on the car, snow in the car, snow on my head, in the grocery bags, and somehow, a fateful roof fall at the grocery store, sent a wad down the back of my jacket.
So, last thing on this list today – dog sledding. I’m going to say that I’m too old to dog sled anymore. Full disclosure, I’ve never dog sledded in my life, but I can safely say that for old Sank, that ship has sailed. If people can say that they are against CRT and then describe how it’s destroying the country.. when in fact no one is actually teaching it anywhere.. well, I can certainly claim that I’m not going to do something ever again, even if I’ve never actually done it.
The new America, make it to make your point.
