Getting Old Ain't For Sissies

 

 

     Recently, I heard that the average life span of a white male in this country was 76 years of age, being that I recently turned 77 I am feeling quite proud that I am finally above average in something. 

     I woke up one morning back last November and decided that I was a little out of shape and needed to do something about it so I joined a gym. Turns out I was more out of shape than I thought but I put my shoulder to the grindstone and pushed on. Before I knew it I was walking on the treadmill at a good clip then I was doing a modified pushup and other exercises. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday found me sweating , huffing and puffing at the gym, I was religious with my efforts and quite proud of the results. My routine got all fouled up last month due to several out of town trips and I have yet to get back on schedule but I'm working on it.

     To be honest, I have not really felt as if I was getting old, I can't function as I did twenty years ago but I function pretty good. My doctors seemed to be happy with my health, I am only on five prescriptions and have been subjected to exrays, MRI's, stress test, nuclear stress test and CAT scanned like crazy. Sure, I have a few minor issues, arthritis in several key places around my body, loss of some muscle tone, a little shortness of breath and not near the stamina I once had. I have some minor balance problems that require me to sit on the side of the bed before standing else I will slam into every wall, doorjamb and piece of furniture on my way to the bathroom but there is nothing debilitating, in my mind I'm on track to be around another twenty years.

     The key phrase in that last sentence is "in my mind", like a lot of elderly people, especially men, we are in a state of denial about our ageing, how we feel and what we are capable of doing. You see, we think (in my mind) we can still do everything we used to do before we stopped doing them, our ego won't let us get old. That's the way the mind works, it is the controlling factor for the whole body therefore the body must do the minds bidding, this is when the body says "OK, go ahead and try".

     Over the last couple of years, some minor issues have come up, normal things that come with the ageing process. While any issue at my age shouldn't be ignored, ignoring a lot of things is often my way of dealing with them, I know they won't go away but just maybe they won't hurt as much if I don't pay them no mind. This train of thought is proved to be wrong on pretty much a daily basis. My mind says "oh, go ahead, you can do that" then after a futile attempt my body comes back with " I told you so".

     Kay and I just returned from a six day vacation exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway. The days were long and filled with a lot of driving, sitting in one spot and feeling the vibrations of the road for long periods coupled with the occasional long walk up a hill or a bunch of steps can play havocs on your body, mine was no different. Have you ever seen an old person get up from a chair or get out of a car? They do it slowly and for a short time they just stand, holding on to something to steady themselves. They are slightly bent over, a little unsteady on their feet and weak in the knees, it takes more than a few moments for them to straighten and start walking. If you are close to them, you may be able to hear their joints pop or snap, a low groan might slip from their lips. Well, I'm here to tell you that old man was me all over this week, if there were any doubts that I'm getting old they for sure are gone now. 

    So my body has spoken, the body won and now reigns king but I figure I can learn to live with it or plop my tush in front of the TV and wait for the Grim Reaper. Well, I refuse to go willingly into the darkness of old age, I will moan, groan and ache my way to my last days, I will pop another aspirin or take another pill but I won't give in because "I'm no sissy".

     Gotta end this now and order a ski rope, the lake has warmed up and ready for me to try out that water ski I bought a few months back.

     

     

Fishing The Old Way

 

     When I first started fishing, I was a young boy of about six years old. Back then there were no big tournaments, bass boats with trolling motors and depth finders. The rods and reels were archaic by today's standards as were the lines and other paraphernalia. There wasn't even a big lake, Old Hickory Lake in Nashville hadn't been completed so the fishing holes were farm ponds, creeks and a few slow moving rivers. There were well worn dirt paths leading to the best spots, if you were lucky there would be a big rock or rotting log to sit on.

     When I went fishing it was with Dad. Brother Pat and I were taxed with getting the bait, we would dig up red wriggler worms in the back yard or from around Grandpa's barn and put them in a tin can with dirt, sometimes we would catch grasshoppers and put them in a jar with holes punched in the lid. Dad's fishing equipment consisted of several cane poles and a small tin tackle box that held plastic bobbers, hooks and weights (we couldn't always afford lead weights so there was a supply of substitutes consisting of flat washers or rusty hex nuts). The cane poles would be as long as ten to twelve feet in length, they had fishing line tied to the end and then wrapped down the length of the pole. Dad must have had eight or nine poles and he fished with every one of them at the same time. Dad would stick the cane poles in the rear side window of the car and away we would go.

     The line on the poles was longer than the poles, if a pole was ten feet long there might be fifteen or more feet tied to the pole, this was so you could get the bait far out into the water. After unwinding the line and checking that the hook was properly tied, you then put a worm on the hook hopefully without sticking the hook in your finger. Then you would set the bobber / cork to the desired depth and extend the pole far above your head and swing the bait out away from the bank, a long pole could get the bait a good eighteen feet out. Then it was set back and watch the bobber bounce up and down until eventually a fish would take the bait and pull the bobber under the surface.

     We did a fair amount of "bank" fishing when I was a kid, but it always seemed to be rather boring watching that bobber bounce around. Then in 1960 we moved to Mt. Juliet and Dad had a carpenter friend build him a 12 foot john boat that he mounted a 12 h.p. outboard motor too. It allowed us to get into another world of fishing from a boat. We used shorter cane poles to work the banks for crappie and I learned about fishing with a spinning rod and lures. Dad traded the boat for a runabout with a 35h.p. motor, you couldn't work the banks for crappie from it but you could anchor down and catch them by the boat load. 

     In 1965 I went into the Navy, fishing was put on hold for four years, when I came home, I slowly got back into it. I bought an 18 foot runabout with a 125 h.p. motor, while I did some fishing from it mostly it was used for water skiing.

     I hate to say it but life got in the way, fishing was hit or miss till just a few years ago. In 2005 I bought a 19 foot center console bay boat with 150 h.p. motor, that was two boats ago. I now have an older center console with 115 h.p. motor, it's equipped with two depth/fish finders with lake maps, a remotely operated trolling motor that has capabilities I will never use. I have three spinning rods and a whole grocery bag full of lures, plastic baits, hooks and sinkers and I go fishing a couple of times a week.     

     Sometimes I catch fish and sometimes I don't, I get aggravated and enthused, I come back frustrated or proud but love every minute of it. With all of the modern technology and equipment that I have, I sometimes think the best fishing was when I sat on a slick rock on a creek bank with my Dad, holding a cane pole and watching a bobber bounce up and down on the water.