Winter: It's Almost Over

 It was back in 1971 when I first made my long held observation about winter and when spring is on the way. I was standing in the coaches office at the school in which I was about to coach in the Iowa high school boys state tournament when all of a sudden I looked at the window and it hit me. "Hey, it's slightly after 6 pm and the sun is still shining. The date was February 20 and I immediately felt relieved that I had survived another of those dastardly Iowa winters. The euphoria stayed with me for another two and a half hours until we were defeated in the game. But, when February is skeedaddling toward the end my mind set is that winter is over. And you can take that to the bank, my wisdom that is.

I didn't mention that I'm now one year older than 75 and four years younger than 80. Yeesh! What happened that this once youthful man turned into a candidate for being mummified? Old age certainly creeps up on us and I'm reminded of it every-single-day. At precisely 5 pm Charlie beckons me to get on the floor and play tug o' war. I'll move to the edge of the sofa and beginning rocking back and forth to get momentum going so I can easily fall forward and hopefully not have my face hit the floor first. I'll grab the rope and we'll go at it until he becomes bored. At this point panic sets in. I ask myself how I'm going to get up. The first thing I do is roll over on my stomach. Then I'll grab a couch cushion and pull myself up to my knees as I move closer to the couch I'll I'll attempt what's called a 'push up' and if I'm lucky I'll be able to stand. Don't laugh. If you're my age you know what I'm talking about. If you're a youngster and laughing the road ahead is waiting for you and it's full of potholes.

I have set goals for '22. Walking to the corner to pick up the mail without having to user a respirator is first on the list. Actually, I'm going to try golfing again. There's a miniature one not far from us.

Another mindset I've had for years is that even numbered birthdays and even numbered years are good luck so I'm expecting many positives in the next 12 months. The only exception to this rule was 2020. I blame that one on a pseudo-doctor by the name of Fauxci but that's another story.

I have a bucket list for this year. 1) Don't lose a hearing aid, That's it. If I can avoid that misery and expense life will be good.