When we're on a race track, we drive fast. When we're in a neighborhood with little kids, we drive slow. Either place, we change gears to accommodate our environment. That's what aging is like.
How well I remember how fast my boyfriend's '57 Chevy went on our nightly cruises around a 3-county area. Give him a straight road, and he put the pedal to the metal, as the old saying went. He spun me around making donuts, the car back of us ate our rubber, and glass pack mufflers let everyone know we were back in town.
Fifty years later, we're the ones pointing fingers at these 'crazy' young kids driving too fast, making noise, and squealing tires. We most definitely have crossed the Generational Great Divide. Now, our car ambles. We try to catch a glimpse of everything there is to see, and sometimes we back up to take a closer look.
A bunch of things scare me about the years ahead, but hubby tells me to live the moment and not waste time worrying about what may never happen. That's profound advice coming from the cool dude with slicked back hair who drove me around in circles.
Life is a blink in the eye of eternity. It's by no means an easy blink, and it takes strength of character to make it to the checkered flag. Every day I try to cast my line out there as I try to catch the magical moments. I like to think of life as a scavenger hunt. Our Creator gave us clues, but we have to hunt in order to find the hidden treasures. Once in awhile I stumble upon a real keeper, like this sweet couple quietly minding their own business on a quiet spring evening....showing me how nice old age can be!
"The complete life,
the perfect pattern,
includes old age as well as
youth and maturity.
The beauty of the morning
and the radiance of noon are good, but
it would be a very silly person
who drew the curtains and
turned on the light in order to
shut out the tranquility of the evening.
Old age has its pleasures,
which, though different,
are not less than the pleasures of youth."
~W. Somerset Maugham