Perspective

11/27/23

Pineapple upside down cake was my favorite desert as a child…

8 years ago on my first MS ride, bikers very obviously fell into two groups, college students and the rest of us nearing retirement age. Needless to say as we pedaled across America conflicts arose, late night partying, alcohol and  marijuana use, and roughty behavior on one side and on the other, a wish  for peace and quiet, a good nights sleep uninterrupted by bathroom breaks, aspirin,  and daily nourishing meals.

We each survived over 4300 miles and actually became good friends.

I promised myself I would never ride again with such a group  only to be scolded by dear Cassie about getting out of my comfort zone and learning from the young. 

As history showed I rode again.

Now even older I find that many young people have little regard for their elders even though I have come to value them. I think that is due to a lack of wisdom on their part and evolving wisdom on my part. They will eventually get there…

I read recently about a Dutch man who was suing in his country’s courts to have his birthday changed to 15 years later. He explained to the judge that people looked upon him as old at age 70 …no one would hire him for work, he was not eligible for free education and retraining, and he could not get a date either in person or on internet sites. I giggled at that but realized he was probably right.

As I decide on full retirement in the next year or two I look at myself driving a 25 year old car( it works fine as long as you don’t care about air conditioning…too old for parts), still write with a fountain pen, read books made of paper even though I have an iPad, and walk or ride a bike almost everywhere I go. 

Two weeks ago after an Amtrak ride I spent the weekend taking care of my two granddaughters, 6 and 4. I brought gifts for them as usual. The 6 year old got a book on craft projects while her sister got dress up clothes..both presents matching their so different personalities. The 6 year old read through her book twice studying the projects …she reads on a 6th grade level….the smartest member of our extended family she has recently learned how to do google searches on the tablet she got from school in Kindergarten…frightening…

I had her dictate to me a list of supplies for the projects and we went off to the art store to buy them. 

At home she asked about one word in the book she had trouble with “ tetrahedron”…I explained the concept of polyhedrons to her.

I asked if she wanted help only to be told: ”BaBa, creativity belongs to the artist. I don’t need any help.”

She then sat down and constructed polyhedrons from straws and clay…Plato’s perfect solids from 2500 years ago.

Today I decided to load music from CDs on onto my phone to listen to while I walk. I had 9 CDs from the past 6 months…Adelaide, Enya, and Oh Wonder.

As I started I could not get my external CD player to work with my MacBook Air even though I bought them together as a package…both sleek, smooth, thin miracle polyhedrons I got more and more frustrated and finally gave up…got  out my old lap top and used that to load music only to find it not compatible with my iPhone. After 2 hours of frustration I lost it and let loose with a string of four letter words…

I called my son at work for help but he was mildly annoyed and said we could try on face time later that night…

Stewing over my predicament I suddenly thought of my oldest granddaughter and wondered what she would do…

I sat there and looked at my CDs, laptop, external player and pretended I was looking through her eyes…

“BaBa, why is your CD player upside down?”

OMG!!! The sleek thin design had thrown me off and I had been putting CDs in an upside down player for two hours…

Somewhat embarrassed, even though I was alone, I then inserted the CDs upside down too…who knows why I didn’t turn the CD player right side up…Pride I guess…

As I sit here watching the CDs load I ponder learning from the young…who make tetrahedrons like the ancients thousands of years ago and see the obvious with their unclouded eyes. 

 Cassie , as always, was right. 

God bless the Young…and of course… the Young of Heart…