Approaching Dotage ...

Age.

Some say that as you age you become wiser.

Others claim it's hell getting old.

Still others? 

"I look forward to it."

"I'd rather die than get old."

"I've got a year or two on dirt."

"I still have a lot of living left to do."

"Just shoot me. Put me out of my misery before I become ancient beyond my years."

There's no denying: Everything gets old. Or at least older. It's one of the constants in Life.

Me? To the best of my memory, I've never wanted to be any older than I was at any given age. I've been content to let the advancing years come as they may. 

Did I want to be 16 and get my driver's license? No. I knew I'd get there. 21? No. That didn't hold any special meaning for me either. I was certain I'd make it. As a kid, I remember thinking about the year 2,000 - it was a distant point in time I wasn't certain would ever become a reality.

But, of course, it came. And I was there, of course.

I think the only time I've ever looked forward to being a particular age was (and still is) this: When I'm old enough to sit on my front porch, pick up my cane, swing it threateningly over my head and tell those damned kids to get off my lawn. Still, though ... that's some 40 years hence ...

Why all this talk about age? Because of a small little incident that took place last evening.

While getting ice cream (coffee ice cream if you need to know) I broke an ice cream scooper. It wasn't the best ice cream scooper in the world by any stretch of the imagination. In fact it was rather the flimsy piece of equipment, truth be told, and it had seen quite a few years. Its paint was faded and peeling, its interior was pocked with tell tale signs of use and, as evidenced by its mid-scoop failure, it was its time.

Interestingly, as I examined it to see if it could be fixed, I noticed it was nothing more than molded plastic with a chrome steel outer coating. The break point where it snapped from the handle was irreparable - it was too shallow to be reworked effectively. I could have gone through the motions and glued it with heavy-duty adhesive but, no matter the strength of the bond, it would eventually fail once more. The fact of the matter was the scoop's day had come and gone.

It was a little sad. And I was sorry it happened. The tool hadn't aged well, but it put in its time and did the best it could.

Its crooks and kinks revealed themselves and finally gave way to Time.

Everything - everything - gets old ...

.......... Ruprecht ( you can't STOP time )

Dad Of The Year

I think I'm in the running for Dad Of The Year. I'll let you decide.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I volunteered to help chaperone my daughter's school trip to see the world's single largest collection of mummies from around the world. Salt Lake City's "The Leonardo" museum was hosting "Mummies Of The World." A busload of students had been unloaded, tagged, instructed and more on what to expect and how to conduct themselves.

But first, one of the museum docents was giving everyone a little history lesson on "The Leonardo" as a primer:

"Does anyone know who 'The Leonardo' was named after?" She chose a raised hand from the 50 students anxiously shuffling their feet, waiting to get on with the show.

"Leonardo Da Vinci" came a response.

"Correct. And what was Leonardo famous for? What did he do?" she asked and, again, began pointing at raised hands.

"He was a painter."

"An inventor!"

"He made that guy out of rock."

"Didn't he dream up the first helicopter?"

I decided to raise my hand:

"Are you sure it was that Leonardo? Not one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ... ???"

 
The kids all turned and looked at me. The teacher who organized the museum run stared my way. 2 additional teachers along for the ride and 5 other adult volunteers gaped at me as well.

Crickets. All you could here were crickets.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
That same day - the day of the museum tour - my other daughter shot me a text around noontime from her school:

"Thanks Dad" it said. It was accompanied with the following photo:

"It was made with love!" I replied.

"Yeah kinda." I could read the sarcasm between the lines. "I didn't eat it, sorry."

"... or mold ... same thing!"

"*haha* Too funny, Dad. *haha*"

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )