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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The mind is willing, the flesh is weak: Acting your age or not
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
I have been playing adult soccer, master's level. I will confess my age as "about 60". Master's means over 45. I am more than 15 years older than some. I am a small person but fast. Last spring, playing indoor soccer (6 a side), I got tripped and broke 2 ribs. Healed now. The dilemma has risen. Asked to play again. I did not play outdoor.
Do I act my decrepit age and resign or do I risk it again? I play mid. It is a friendly league. Recreational. But we all, or at least me, get charged up and try hard.
Anyone else have such an aging dilemma?
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
I really long to fence again, but I really need to find a willing group of out- of- shape middle age folk to indulge me as partners.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Fencing?
With an axe in your hand?
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
No prophet [etc.] go for it OR you can become a bench-sitter shouting advice at the ref - like the address of a good optometrist!
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Heh. Yes, I am acting half my age in certain ways. Rebellion struck several years ago and I did what was unthinkable in my family--I started growing my hair long, in my forties. Seriously--I just had my mother on the phone telling me to cut it. That's not happening. I would so like to get some rainbow chalk and do the colors thing, but Mr. Lamb would just.die. as Vietnamese are so conservative.
I'm also working and attending school with people roughly half my age as a result of my layoff a few years ago, and stirring shit because I recognize the jokes they're making (largely because I keep up on the internet) PLUS I have 25 years' extra experience to be outrageous with. It's rather fun.
That said, I absolutely canNOT go rollerskating until I get in much much better shape, as a crash sent me to the emergency room, and everybody kept yaffling on about whether I had a heart condition (No; the faint was due to simple pain from the wrist damage). But they never would have thought of it had I really been in my twenties.
Of course, it's also true that in my twenties, I had a lot of physical limitations due to my connective tissue problem. So the contrast between then and now, sports-wise, is not so great.
On the other hand, I have no plans to buy a fancy convertible, have an affair, or start wearing miniskirts. I have memories of certain relatives when they started that have-to-be-young crap and I'm trying not to embarrass myself. No "down with the yoof" talk. And I'm not trying to be my high schooler's best friend either.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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jacobsen
seeker
# 14998
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Posted
There's no doubt that it's unnerving to find simple tasks leading to what seems disproportionately great injury. It doesn't have to be sport. Following two successful hip replacements I'm slowly working up to the length of country walk I used to be able to tackle. (Current high is 3.5 miles, hoping to reach 15 in time...)
The really distressing thing is spraining a wrist while trying to open a jar of jam.
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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.
Posts: 8040 | From: Æbleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
On my 50th Birthday, just a few years ago, I stayed up late into the night at a festival to hear Skrillex. I loved the late-night clubbing music right through (Skrillex himself was good but an ego that has its own gravitational field).
I love my music loud and pumping. At Greenbelt, I am up the front (leaning on the barrier to support myself, but still there). And I find a lot of the GB music rather too old for my style - I really want some good DJ clubbing music*.
Of course my mind and my flesh are actually weak. It is my inner child who is strong.
*And I accept that this is probably not to everyones taste! So is less likely to happen.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
I'm 60 in July next year - I'm going to do a wing walk for my favourite charity.
![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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blackbeard
Ship's Pirate
# 10848
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Posted
No dilemma - I just carry on doing what I want to do, as long as I can.
So far, still can.
Blackbeard, septuagenarian teenager
Posts: 823 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Dec 2005
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by blackbeard:
No dilemma - I just carry on doing what I want to do, as long as I can.
Miss Amanda's sentiment exactly at age 71.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by blackbeard:
No dilemma - I just carry on doing what I want to do, as long as I can.
Miss Amanda's sentiment exactly at age 71.
That's mine too at 50-mumble. I just do it a bit more slowly ... ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Tubbs
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
I have been playing adult soccer, master's level. I will confess my age as "about 60". Master's means over 45. I am more than 15 years older than some. I am a small person but fast. Last spring, playing indoor soccer (6 a side), I got tripped and broke 2 ribs. Healed now. The dilemma has risen. Asked to play again. I did not play outdoor.
Do I act my decrepit age and resign or do I risk it again? I play mid. It is a friendly league. Recreational. But we all, or at least me, get charged up and try hard.
Some people are decrepit at 60, some are hale and hearty. Biological age doesn't equate to numerical age, or even emotional age.
If you want to do it, if you are physically capable of doing it, do it while you can. Life is short. There will come a time when you definitely can't do it, and few things are worse than looking back on a series of missed opportunities saying "If only..."
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I went to the Lakes District a few years ago, and (due to driving on the other side of the road) took a bus up into the hills. The other passengers were mainly hikers, and we spoke to a quite elderly lady. She had hiking boots, two hiking staffs, a rucksack, water bottle, etc. She was 80, and her complaint was that she could no longer hike out here from Keswick (20 miles away) but had to take the bus out to the scenic bit.
When I grow up I want to be like her.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
I wonder if they make airbag clothing. Fall down, and before hitting the ground, the air bag deploys and no FOOSH*, ribs, hips and back are still in working order.
*FOOSH - fall on out stretched hands. I understand it is a thing. And isn't it a grand abbreviation?
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I have a friend with muscular issues that make him fall a lot. He has taken to wearing those gardening pants that have a pocket at the knee, for a pad -- keeps him from skinning his knees when he takes a tumble. Next up would be the wrist and elbow protectors that skateboarders use. (FWIW they are moving this month to an area that has no snow, so we no longer need worry about him slipping on the ice.)
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
I wonder if they make airbag clothing.
I believe they do.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
I wonder if they make airbag clothing.
I believe they do.
Looks like it does the job, but to avoid the wrist and hand injuries associated with FOOSH you have to trust the jacket.
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
And I thought I was being silly. Amazing!
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
... FOOSH - fall on out stretched hands. I understand it is a thing. And isn't it a grand abbreviation?
It is indeed. I thought it signified the sound the air-bag made when it initiated. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
As for doing things not expected of your age-bracket, a friend of ours in St. John's, now in his mid-80s, was still running 10-km road races, coaching soccer players and cross-country skiing until a few years ago. I suspect that's why he's still in relatively good fettle.
If you feel you can still do whatever sport takes your fancy without doing yourself a mischief, I'd say go for it.
Good luck! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
At 65 I drive a convertible, or at least a Mazda MX-5 with a folding metal roof ![[Axe murder]](graemlins/lovedrops.gif) a replacement for my beloved Precious, the Peugeot 206CC. When I spent my life insurance payout* on Snowball II I observed to the salesman that if I kept it as long as I had the Precious, I'd be 76 when I traded it in!
*is that rock'n'roll, or what ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
However after 3 broken wrists I no longer do any winter sports; it isn't that I mind the breaks but it isn't fair on everyone else. I took up Pilates and t'ai chi to improve my balance, and I have to say I'm amazed at how little mobility some people not much older than me have, i.e. not able to lift an arm above the shoulder So my advice is use it or lose it, then you can still be doing this stuff at an unfeasibly old age ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
Mrs. S, whose punctuation gives away her age
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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sharkshooter
Not your average shark
# 1589
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
I wonder if they make airbag clothing. Fall down, and before hitting the ground, the air bag deploys and no FOOSH*, ribs, hips and back are still in working order.
*FOOSH - fall on out stretched hands. I understand it is a thing. And isn't it a grand abbreviation?
Close enough?
Bubble Soccer
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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:14]
Posts: 7772 | From: Canada; Washington DC; Phoenix; it's complicated | Registered: Oct 2001
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Mrs. S. - I think those little Mazdas are the coolest wee things - they always make me smile. And I shouldn't worry about it not being "age-appropriate" - ISTM that the only people who can afford sports cars are in their 60s.
Don't worry about your punctuation either - I'm more than 10 years younger than you, and I use all the dots, commas and whatnot too. I think it comes from having once worked for a firm of very old-fashioned solicitors.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
I once saw a very depressing shop that claimed to sell clothes suitable for the over 25s, the age I was at the time. I thought then, as I do now, that you should wear clothes you like that make you feel good. My mother and mother in law, both in their late eighties are great role models for this. My mum looks great in tunics and leggings and my MiL wears skinny jeans and bretton tops that really suit her.
Your car sounds fun Mrs S. If I was buying a car again I fancy a bright red Fiat500.
Edited; Because I can't spell!
[ 15. September 2016, 20:42: Message edited by: Sarasa ]
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Graven Image
Shipmate
# 8755
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Posted
Became ill last January with a strange nerve thing in legs. Could not walk and in great pain. I then at 77 suddenly felt old and like this is it for the first time. Thankfully after 6 months and a lot of work on my part I am much improved. My response has been to go BIG, I am spending more of my retirement money on fun things. I fixed myself an art studio, got a dog to go walking with after thinking I was to old to have a pet. Got an older dog.
I hired a house keeper when I was in pain and kept her when I improved so I can do things I enjoy rather then cleaning house.
So all in all thanks to an illness I am enjoying life more while spending my children's inheritance.
Posts: 2641 | From: Third planet from the sun. USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Go Graven Image!
I especially like the idea of not wasting your energy on something as boring as cleaning the house.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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jacobsen
seeker
# 14998
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Posted
Cleaning house can be fun, provided you are not the one doing it all the time.
Graven Image, I remember saying to my dad when he was in his 70s that the best thing he could do for me was to use his money to enjoy his life. He was bemused at being told what to do with his own dosh, but grateful that I wasn't hovering and hoping for a mega inheritance.
Of course, one translation of my comment could have been:"Don't bother me - Push off and play!"
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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.
Posts: 8040 | From: Æbleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jacobsen:
Cleaning house can be fun, provided you are not the one doing it all the time.
I love having a clean house and detest doing it. NOT my idea of fun! Hiring cleaners is my favorite luxury.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
Update re OP. Now are I an idiot me is. Sprained my ankle on the weekend. All purple and nasty. Stupidly as usual, in the excitement of the game, I tightened my shoe and played the rest of it. Now hobbling like an old goat. And we are skiing in BC in 2 weeks; supposed to. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Poor NP - hope you feel better soon. And take it easy on the slopes!
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
Not me, but definitely a role model... January 2012 I was walking part of the Camino frances. I met a German woman, Ursula, about 73, on the walk. She had done it a number of times, and knew a number of our fellow travellers. One day she and I had stopped for lunch at a small restaurant, and over lunch we discussed the Camino, and her experiences. She said that she was slowing down. How so, I asked. [Insert German accent] "Oh, no more 40km days for me!" She was still doing 25+km!
And she was engaged! I find, as many people age, they are interested in their monologue. She was filled with questions, with follow-up opinions. Delightful!
[ 07. February 2017, 22:52: Message edited by: Pangolin Guerre ]
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
(sigh) I have always wanted to do that.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
Oh, Brenda, do it! Do it now! I did it in the off-season, which, even though people said that I was an idiot to it January, was great. Only one night did I not stay in a hostel (closed for the season), and the weather varied from glorious to a miserable test of the will (cold, driving rain for 18 of 25km at 4C). The best thing about the Camino is that, in my experience, dickhead tourists don't do pilgrimages. (On-season might be a different experience.) Nice people, great vistas, surprisingly good inexpensive food, kind and generous locals.... And I'm not paid by the Spanish tourist board.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Alas, I'm on the hook this year to go on my husband's dream trip. to the South of France. (Not that this is a crushing hardship, you understand.) But at some point I do hope to go. The best time of year for me would be the fall, Sept-Oct, and I thought I would be very wussy and sign up for a bus-supported tour group so that any time i felt wimpy I could ride.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
Update re OP. Now are I an idiot me is. Sprained my ankle on the weekend. All purple and nasty. Stupidly as usual, in the excitement of the game, I tightened my shoe and played the rest of it. Now hobbling like an old goat. And we are skiing in BC in 2 weeks; supposed to.
NP[fiss] - my immediate response when reading your post was to respond as my father would had I done the same but, as it was not printable on a family board, I shall just say I hope you feel better soon and at least enjoy the apres-ski!
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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