Forget The Hourglass

Contents:
Forget The Hourglass
Winter Question Answers
Spring Question
The Ball Game, a story, part 1

Live your life and forget your age.

Jean Paul
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I just turned 72. That means I lived 36 years twice. I like that idea. It also means I lived to be 24 three times. I like that even better.

"Old rockin' chair's got me, my cane by my side" wrote Hoagy Carmichael.
"You're too old for that" says someone else. "Act your age" says another.

Ask President George Bush if he was too old to go sky diving. Ask John Glenn if he was to old to go into orbit again. A few years ago I understudied Douglas Campbell in a large and difficult role. He was 83. I never played it. He played every performance. Who gave George Burns permission to live to 100? Who told Irving Berlin to sign out at 101?

"They try to tell us we're too young
Too young to really be in love"
(Nat King Cole)

I know a young man whose girl friend is 15 years older than he is. She has no problem with it, neither does he. A person has to be at least 35 years old to be President of the United States. But Lafayette entered the American Revolutionary War as a Major General at the age of 19. The first human cannonball was a 14 year old girl called Zazel. Mozart was playing his own music on the harpsichord in public at the age of 5,

Life is about living, not about counting ages.

I can't do some of the things old folks do any more. I'm not as old as I used to be.

DB - The Vagabond
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WINTER QUESTION ANSWERS

What was the most significant event of 2010?
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BP Oil Spill
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my answer: The Chilean miners were rescued.
A you tube video depicting the incident:
http://youtu.be/XGecqHnN2gQ
entitled:
Chile Miners Rescue Video: Joy as capsule raises trapped men to surface
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I remember the big oil spill
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The most significant event of 2010 for me was penning my third book (which sadly I'm still in revision with). (Hugs)Indigo
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2010, most significant event... I would say the Haiti earthquake, followed closely by the BP Oil Spill and November elections.
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The most significant event of 2010 for me, was the dawning of Jan. 1, 2011.
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Most significant event of 2010? My actually getting on a plane at John McNamara airport with a destination for Omaha...
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So many significant events happened last year, but my vote for the most significant is going to FIFA World Cup South Africa. The whole world focuses its eyes on soccer supremacy. Borders, barriers, language, culture, politics, religion wealth, age ------ all disappear in the name of sport. No game in the world has as much significance as soccer, or football if you prefer. Just for a few weeks every four years, people put aside their differences and focus on the game. It always amazes me that sport has a way of uniting the world far better than any politicians.


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Most significant events of 2010: Globally, I think it was the Haitian earthquake and the world's response to it, and for the U.S., Wikileaks.
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I think, after this country woke from a decade of international belligerence, and began to feel the future again, that was the year we realized how much we'd been hobbled and how far we had to go. 1st step on a long road.
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Thank you all.
DB
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SPRING QUESTION

NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.

Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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The Ball Game,
a story in 7 parts

Part 1

The first time Jimmy Login saw his father was at a stick ball game on a Brooklyn street. His father died when Jimmy was only 3. Jimmy doesn't remember him and only knows him from a photograph his mother has of a handsome, smiling man with glasses His mother said Jimmy's father was a physicist who was working on a top secret project when he died.

Billy Ferguson threw the ball with great force and it hit the step with a loud wallop. Jimmy held the stick firmly ready to hit the ball if he could. At that moment he heard a man's voice call his name: "Jimmy." He looked up and just for a flash saw his father's smiling face, just like in the picture. Then he saw the ball coming toward him gradually and gracefully, like a bubble on the wind, as if the whole game was suddenly in slow motion.

When it drifted right in front of him he swung hard and hit the ball squarely on. It flew up fast, bounced off the side of the building, went tumbling down the street and rolled under a parked car.

"Wow" someone said.

That was the first time Jimmy saw his father. But not the last.

(Part 2 tomorrow.)
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Play Your Song

The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.

Pope Paul VI
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Age doesn't give us wisdom. Wisdom is always there. What age does is enable us to catch up with it. I have a quote somewhere which says don't complain about being old, it's a privilege denied to many.

Many years ago I lived in northern New Hampshire. There are a lot of mountains there. On one bright, sunny summer day I was climbing Middle Moat Mountain. I was about 35. I had my shirt off, tucked into my back pack which was over my shoulders. I was feeling great. like primary man.

On Middle Moat the timber line is very near the base, so the climb is basically on rocks and surrounded by open space. As I climbed I noticed two people way up ahead of me coming down. They saw me, I saw them. As they got closer I could see they were teenage girls. As we passed each other one girs was talking to the other one about a boy she knew and I heard her say "I still see him but he's old now. He's almost 20." I felt like turning around and saying "Come here girls. Let me teach you something about age." But I walked on.

A few months later I was directing a production of "The Fantasticks" for the local high school. In the play the boy has a line about the girl which says "She makes me young again." The high school kid playing the part kept getting it wrong and saying "She makes me feel young again." which is cute, but it's not the line. "She makes me young again" coming from a youngster is much funnier.

Finally, after correcting him many times, I had them all sit down and I told them the story of my trip up the mountain. Then I asked the kid how old he was and he said he was 18. "Oh, my God" I said. "You're almost 20? You're old. You've hit your peak. It's all down hill from now on, buddy. You're living on overtime. You're already rusting out. I suggest you get to the drug store and buy a cane, you're going to need it. Look at yourself in the mirror tonight and see the wrikles and the gray hair starting to form. You're old and done for."

They all laughed, of course. Then I asked him "And what does she do for you?" "She makes me young again" he replied. He never got the line wrong after that.

What do older people do? The same things as younger people do. They may do it with less energy but with more experience and, hopefully, with some wisdom. Life can get sweeter when our fiddle is in tune and we finally know the song.

DB - The Vagabond
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PUZZLE - WEEKEND EDITION

Labor over this.
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KBH KF BOZOZSOB KQO NWCY FT GOIKOZSOB
EQOC UWTO EPG GUFE PCY FQ, GF ZOUUFE.
KBH KF BOZOZSOB KQO NWCY FT GOIKOZSOB
EQOC XBPGG EPG XBOOC PCY XBPWC EPG HOUUFE.
KBH KF BOZOZSOB KQO NWCY FT GOIKOZSOB
EQOC HFD EOBO P KOCYOB PCY VPUUFE TOUUFE.
KBH KF BOZOZSOB, PCY WT HFD BOZOZSOB
KQOC TFUUFE.

KEZ RFCOG

Good luck.
DB
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Leaping Over Life

Youth is largely a habit. So is romance.

Richard Le Gallienne
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One thing I have never really understood is some people’s prejudicial and limiting attitude about age. To label oneself or anyone else in terms of age is a conspiracy against human happiness and ability. It may seem as though I am dwelling a lot on this topic these days. That’s because it was an issue during my recent six weeks of misery.

If a technician asked me to read something off the screen, it took my a while because the font is small and I don’t see that well. If he told me to write something in a box, I had to ask him to slow down and repeat himself so I would get it right. If he asked for my phone number I had to stop and think about it. It’s not on the tip of my tongue because I never dial it.

Put it all together and what have you got? Simple. I’m a stupid, senile old toot who can’t understand anything.

I met a girl recently who told me she was 14 and a half years old. I chuckled to myself that for her a half of a year was an important milestone. I told her not to grow up too fast. Youngsters never want to hear that. They want to grow up as fast as they can and emerge into adulthood where they will be free of restrictions. Ha, ha, ha.

I was directing a production of “The Fantasticks” and the young actor playing the boy had a line about the girl which read “She makes me young again.” In rehearsal he kept saying “She makes me FEEL young again” which isn’t humorous. I corrected him each time. But he kept getting it wrong. Finally I told him this true story.

I was hiking up Middle Moat Mountain in New Hampshire one bright summer day. The mountain is almost all open space and rocky. I had my shirt off, tied around my waist and my back pack on my shoulders. I was about 40 years old and feeling great. Up ahead I saw two girls coming down. It’s unusual to meet people on a trail. Usually you just say hello, nod and keep going. As they passed me they were talking about a boy. One of them said “I still see him. But he’s old now. He’s almost 20.” I felt like turning around and giving them a lecture about oldness.

After I told the story I asked the young actor how old he was. When he said he was 19 I said “Oh, my God. You’re old. You’re over the hill and on your way down. It’s over for you. There’s nothing left. You’re done for. You’re old.” Pause. “And what does she do for you?” “She makes me young again” he said. He never got the line wrong after that.

I knew a woman in her mid thirties whose widower father was dating a woman. My friend couldn’t understand it. “What does he think he’s doing/” “He’s looking for some romance” I said. “But at his age” she said. “He’s old.” “So what” I said. “You’re never too old for romance.”

Now I’m 70 and a half years old. There are some bad habits I would like to get rid of, but I don’t want to lose my addiction to youth. And if I met the right woman, no matter what her age, I would gladly say “She makes me young again.”

DB - The Vagabond