Well, I am 71 years old today and am sitting here in my home office with the heating pad on my back and doped up on Alleve because I threw my back out again. Yesterday was the first nice day in a while and I though I would pick up the massive leaf drop from my Live Oaks after the recent storms. Made the foolish mistake of pulling a tarp of wet leaves about 100 yards out to the burn barrel now I am walking around like a monkey humping a football.
The bad news is that I can no longer do half of what I used to and the other half that I can still do I need to use my head more than my muscles otherwise I end up like I am today. The good news is that I have done a lot, seen a lot and have generally lived a pretty good life so I have no regrets. Men in my family usually live to ages 83-85 so I have some time left on the clock hopefully. As old men tend to do, I wanted to waste some of your time with my thoughts today.
- There used to be a time when I could gather a small crowd at the range with my shooting skills. I liked to take a pair of scissors and cut down my pistol targets until there was only a black circle about 3” across and then put it out at 25 yards and put five rounds into the middle from my 1911. I could also do a decent job of keeping my .41 Mag. rounds in the black at 100 yards and would go head to head with some of my friends and their rifles as long as they used iron sights offhand. Now, I only shoot at 10 years in order to keep my self defense skills up and I tend to tear up my targets and throw them in the trash instead of framing them like I used to. But, I have my memories.
- I used to stay up all night and then hit the duck blinds at 5 am. Now, when the sun goes down so do I and I wonder if I will see the dawn.
- A good nights sleep used to mean 8 hours. Now, it means getting 2-3 hours before getting up to take a leak.
- I used to scramble up and down creek banks to get to fishing spots no one else could. A couple of years ago I slid face down over 50 ft. of river rock and now I don’t go out without a walking stick.
- The only wood I see is what I have stacked out back for the fireplace.
And, I could go on and on. But, the fact is that I can sit here and smile when I consider the things I have done, the places I have gone, the women I have loved and the peace I found in my later years.
Today I am going to Saltgrass to have a nice steak dinner then I will retire to my office and watch a couple of hours of Hank Williams Jr, music from his earliest to his last. Old Bosephus and I are the same age and I can identify with some his life transitions, plus his music speaks to my aging heart.
My hats off to my older TGT brothers and, to you younger guys, your day is coming so make the most of life while you can!
God Bless!!
The bad news is that I can no longer do half of what I used to and the other half that I can still do I need to use my head more than my muscles otherwise I end up like I am today. The good news is that I have done a lot, seen a lot and have generally lived a pretty good life so I have no regrets. Men in my family usually live to ages 83-85 so I have some time left on the clock hopefully. As old men tend to do, I wanted to waste some of your time with my thoughts today.
- There used to be a time when I could gather a small crowd at the range with my shooting skills. I liked to take a pair of scissors and cut down my pistol targets until there was only a black circle about 3” across and then put it out at 25 yards and put five rounds into the middle from my 1911. I could also do a decent job of keeping my .41 Mag. rounds in the black at 100 yards and would go head to head with some of my friends and their rifles as long as they used iron sights offhand. Now, I only shoot at 10 years in order to keep my self defense skills up and I tend to tear up my targets and throw them in the trash instead of framing them like I used to. But, I have my memories.
- I used to stay up all night and then hit the duck blinds at 5 am. Now, when the sun goes down so do I and I wonder if I will see the dawn.
- A good nights sleep used to mean 8 hours. Now, it means getting 2-3 hours before getting up to take a leak.
- I used to scramble up and down creek banks to get to fishing spots no one else could. A couple of years ago I slid face down over 50 ft. of river rock and now I don’t go out without a walking stick.
- The only wood I see is what I have stacked out back for the fireplace.
And, I could go on and on. But, the fact is that I can sit here and smile when I consider the things I have done, the places I have gone, the women I have loved and the peace I found in my later years.
Today I am going to Saltgrass to have a nice steak dinner then I will retire to my office and watch a couple of hours of Hank Williams Jr, music from his earliest to his last. Old Bosephus and I are the same age and I can identify with some his life transitions, plus his music speaks to my aging heart.
My hats off to my older TGT brothers and, to you younger guys, your day is coming so make the most of life while you can!
God Bless!!