Chickens!!!

Driving down I-5 the other morning and I glance to my left at the truck in the center lane with double flatbed trailers that's passing me by and I see stacked cages and cages of ..... chickens!! Live chickens looking right back at me. Not sure who was feeling more trapped at that given moment in time, though it didn't appear to be a promising start to the day for those chickens.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Still feeling strong but tired ..... This sums up the daily life and longtime routine changes mentioned a few posts ago. Life at sixty can be draining on one's energy as the day lengthens. Not attempting here to be negative but just realistic. Sometimes you just don't care to make one more stop before going home if it involves getting out of the car or speaking to anyone. Being home has become a genuine pleasure. And these days I often find myself looking forward to the quiet time with an old classic movie. And if that causes you to experience happiness .....

Prince

The news today that Prince died. He was 57 years old. I was never a huge fan but I appreciate his place in music history. Always a bit of mystery in my eyes. He helped change the sound of music in the early and mid-1980's. He was huge in the rise of MTV. I get caught at times of thinking of great musicians as remaining young forever. I tend to see them as they were at the height of their popularity.

Seems like there's been a lot of passings lately from the voices of my generation. People react with surprise and shock but I don't know why? They age along with all of us. Being a great musician doesn't guarantee a long, healthy life. Lately though, it seems there's been an increased frequency that leaves me wondering, who's next?

Running For Pleasure ..... NOT!!!

There's a lot of truth in this statement. I refuse to run anywhere any more. Not for money. Not even for love. And I avoid situations where I might have to run for my life. Like pissing off a bear. I just have no interest in running ..... Even though I still think that given a little time to limber up, I could still sprint the hundred yard dash in darn close to record time.

So don't bother to ask me to take part in the Senior division of your 5K charity marathon event. Unless I can stroll a few hundred yards of it and call it good

As a kid I recall Bob Hayes running the hundred in 9.1 seconds. There was also Jim Ryan's sub-four minute mile. Those were looked at as the limit back then. Records that would be tough to break. I have no idea these days if they still stand.

Reading These Days

Currently there's several books that I've been slowly finding my way through .....

• Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption From An Irish Mailbox by Greg Fitzsimmons ..... Hilarious tales from his life.
• Junky by William Burroughs .... I've always thought of drugs as a problem that started with my generation. But it's been around much longer. Finding the words here fascinating. 
• The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry by John Feinstein .... Being a huge fan of basketball and what goes on behind the scenes of great college basketball rivallries. Years ago, I read and enjoyed Feinstein's book, "A Season On The Brink," about Bob Knight and Indiana basketball
• Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge by Antony Beevor

Not to forget several volumes of Poetry by various authors that I've come across recently. But those books are more of a read one or two works and ponder the meanings of life for awhile before going back for more, type of adventure.

Changing and Evolving

It's kinda funny but I've found myself changing more in the last year or two, than at seemingly any other time in my life. Nothing glaringly obvious that most people would notice but mostly small changes in attitudes and long time daily routines. Not a matter of concious choice, it's just happened with approaching and turning 60. A big enough deal that I've assigned the changes some degree of importance in my world.

Connected

And to think that there was a time when I wasn't the least bit interested .....

Now I do Facebook and Tumblr and Google-plus. I have four different pages on Blogger and also a Live Journal page. I enjoy messing with my photos on Flickr and have a YouTube channel for a couple photo collages that I've put together and a few videos filmed. I use iTunes frequently. There's even an Instagram page under my identity. I've probably signed up for a site or two that I didn't know what to do with so they went unused. I'd probably do Pinterest as well except that I read somewhere that it's mostly for women. Things and times change I guess. The point is, I find most of this stuff very enjoyable. The exposure to thoughts, words and images of friends and total strangers. It helps fill in the gaps in life with whatever interests a person.

Lost Friendships

With so many people that come into your world while traveling your path, you have a small window where you get to know them a little. They come and go ..... You're glad they are there and regretful when you realize that they are gone. Maybe there for a year, maybe five years, maybe just a month or two. You found a common connection. You get to see what they are all about, thankful that they didn't remain a stranger forever. Thankful for their friendship. Thankful that they were there for awhile to share with you, what they knew and had experienced. Years later, out of the blue, one day you remember, their relatively short presence in your world. You wonder why the connection eventually faded and ended? Where are they now? Sometimes, because you've seen so many others pass away, you find yourself in your sixties wondering if they are still alive?

Life seems to be littered with these relationships, once materialized and then faded away.