The hens too have been reluctant to come out of their coops, so I have had to put food and water out into each of the 15 houses to keep them all going.
The American Bourbon turkeys are moulting, so have no reserves to fight the wet snow. I have locked them safely up in their shed.
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| St Michaels this morning |
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| The Lane outside the cottage well after dawn |
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| The Young runners having a major panic attack in the snow |
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| Boris before I put him back into his house |
Now anyone that really knows me, will testify to the fact that I seldom get melancholy.
But....last night, when I was soaking the chicken poo out of my pours I had a brief yet heartfelt tip toe into the realisation that I am two years off fifty!
My father was 48 in 1973!....(it was one of those absent thoughts that come into your head when your mind wanders)
It's not an interesting fact....but to me...soaking in the tub.....it proved to be somewhat terrifying!
I then had a gallop around some facts and figures
We have been on Wales over five years now
I have been a nurse for 27 years
In twelve years time I will be sixty
Twelve years ago , it was 1998
...and I remember everything in 1998 as though it was yesterday
In 2022 I will remember everything now as it was yesterday.........and I will then officially be.....an old man!
My dad died when he was 65!
Does anyone else do this age realization thing?
I don't feel 48. I dont feel middle aged (well except when I farted when leaning over a supermarket freezer) But middle aged I am....and it is a little scary to realise that most of my life on this planet has already been experienced...........done and dusted!
Looking at Constance, curled up tight with George in her new bed , I realise that sometimes it must be easier being a dog......
I was always very aware of my mortality when I was young, and I believed I would live to a very old age - now I am not so sure. I will be sixty next year, so I will let you know what being officially old is like in May. One ting I can tell you is that it does not seem to affect one's childish sense of humour. Great photos of the snow. I like the one where the flakes have been caught in the flash best. Boris looks as though he is worried by Christmas - better go out and reassure him.
ReplyDeleteI am having a lot of thoughts like this at the moment John. Hubby and I are both 51 and he has almost completed his 30 years in the Police Force, and it looks as if they may be kicking him out - when he is so not ready to go. Its making us feel so old, and we are still spring chickens. xxxxx
ReplyDeleteHi John
ReplyDeleteI am 65 next spring and I can empathise with you. Tom and I have been trying to come to terms with this bloody ageing thing for years.
At first we thought maybe it was just us that could hardly walk when we got out of bed, or tottered when turning around quickly, I could go on for ever with events that did not happen a few years ago. lol
When all is said and done, there is not a lot can be done so one just has to try to accept it, not easy though.
Poor old you, buck up it will soon be spring !!!!
Funnily enough I have not been too negative about the age thing. As you know I passed 50 a couple of weeks ago, but I do keep thinking that this is just half way through my life and that I still have a good few years to go -- I hope! I don't feel 50 and apart from when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror sometimes and see my mum, I still feel raring to go.
ReplyDeleteSue
It might be easier being a dog but nothing like as much fun.
ReplyDeleteHere I am at 50, completely screwed up and expecting to be so for at least another 50 years.
What's to be melancholy about?
Hi John! I'm only a year ahead of you, and I do the same thing from time to time...But they are saying that 50 is the new 30, so I'm hoping this is true and we won't just be fooling ourselves! :-)
ReplyDeleteLovely snow pictures this morning--Is there ever a time when the runner ducks aren't in a state of panic over something?
John, how funny we got our first snow last night also. I'm not a big fan of cold or snow but the first one is always beautiful.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you not "officially " old let me tell you how it is for me. I'm 65, have never been healthier or felt better. Old really is a state of mine. A few years ago I played tennis twice a week with a man 87. I have yet to win a game. Come on guys get over yourself. Enjoy life!
the sad thing is...48 years old is 164 in gay years.
ReplyDeleteOh yes,sometimes it hits me like that.It kinda surprises me I am this age.I don't get sad over it but just a little shocked at how fast the years went by!
ReplyDeleteAnd therein lies the lesson John...be like your dogs...live in the moment, forget the math!
ReplyDelete"the sad thing is...48 years old is 164 in gay years". Tee hee - that made my lady laugh!
ReplyDeleteSigh..... That realization hits later, rather than earlier. It is truly an "Oh, sh*t" moment. Things start to fall apart at 40, and your warranty is over at 50. Oh, I hear "you're as old as you feel" In my mind, I still think like a 23-26 yr. old but my body has betrayed me and I feel like 65 some days and 90 on others.
ReplyDeleteJust take care of your body and getting old won't be such a problem.
Cool snowfall, is this a normal thing? Does it stay all winter or come and go, like it does here?
the snow is beautiful! i'm sure it's different being in it, though. ah, 48... don't let the numbers get you down! life is such a gift and even though you are a little melancholy, i hope it passes and smiles and joy quickly replace.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post. I think we all can relate.
ReplyDeleteTwo things that I liked the most about this post:
That you were soaking chicken poo out of your pores, and that you felt middle aged when you farted leaning over a freezer in the grocery store!
I hear you John! We don't know where the last 20 years has gone. Time is a 'funny' thing isn't it. I think we get a little worried about it's passing when we are looking way too far ahead or too far back. What about NOW? That's what really counts John. And look what you have....90 plus critters that need you!
ReplyDeleteOne thing, I am so glad I wasn't standing behind you waiting my turn to get into that freezer!! lol
Jim
I agree that it's easy to become melancholy with regard to your advancing years. I'm 53 and found it easier once I passed 50.. almost like a new start now that milestone was behind me. The other thing that works for me if I'm feeling sorry for myself is to remember dear friends and relatives I've lost, some at a young age.
ReplyDeleteWe're very lucky to be around and enjoying life.
Fantastic shots John, always the same, whenever i'm away from Wales it snows! typical!
ReplyDeleteReally hoping i'll get some allotment snow shots, hard chance though!
Great photos - Christmas card images - we get nothing like that in these parts - an occassional 'flurry' in mid-winter.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about getting old - it happens to all of us and we must die sometime!As Said in Monty Python: " ... "'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible! This is an ex-parrot!" ...
oh John, mercy me, yes.
ReplyDeleteFor me its been a oh my I AM GETTING OLDER I am still here!!! and then also oh my I am getting o l d e r LOL don't look in the mirror to close LOL...Its like a double edge sword almost. I do not FEEL 46 which I am only 5 weeks from. I can tell you it scares me and it thrills me! I guess we all think these things as we begin to slide toward 50 and well I guess 60 and so on. Physically I am more fit and as healthy as I have ever been in my life! I feel good!!!!
Maybe its a girl thing, but ageing as in showing your age (wrinkles) is kinda of hard...I don't like it!!! :O(
I learned the hard way early in life, ones mortality is but a breath away from being or not being. There is no guarantee as to what age we will live to be! Whether we are 20 something or 40 something or 50 something. I think this has made me even more aware of life and my chronological age.
I guess all we can do is treat our life as precious as it is! Treat our health with all the respect,care and love its due!
john and tex
ReplyDeleteoh both are so right
x
Oh to be in the 40s! You are a sweet young thing!
ReplyDeleteSomeone referred to the day we Americans landed on the moon as happening "a long long time ago." No it didn't, it was just yesterday. I'm 62, pushing 63 and I don't believe I've gotten here this quickly.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was twelve, in 1960. For some reason, I was very impressed by the fact that the children born from then on would never have known what it was like to have lived in the '50's. Now, this year, those children, born in 1960, will be 50 years old. Cripes, they're getting long in the tooth themselves.
I feel your pain. I turn 47 in the new year, and my Dad was 47 when he had his first heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the same time! Since I never smoked (he did from the time he was 13 until he died at 61), I'm hoping my ticker is a little better off. My mother died at 64. I am really hoping I do a little better than my parents! Still, I feel time bearing down on me these days and I certainly don't feel middle-aged. And at the age I am now, my mother had just remarried and had a 15-year-old daughter (me!) I do think about mortality a bit too much these days.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful picture of Boris! And you have more snow than us right now.
Well don't you just wade right into the big ones...aging and winter and confronting the end of times, all three! I love how you weave all the different threads of your posts together, every time.
ReplyDeleteThose are some beautiful photos btw! I'm with Tom, I love the way the snowflakes caught the flash.
With hospice I worked mostly with elders and it gave me a different perspective on the later years, more of a feeling than anything else. I often felt, as I watched them grew slower and slower, that it was because they were moving under a gathering weight of mystery. Like they were satellite dishes slowly reorienting to pick up a different, more distant set of signals that younger people can't sense yet. Or like they were gradually moving outside the timeline of clocks and calendars and into some new, larger, timeless, dimension that I didn't understand. I sometimes felt the same way around them as I do in the mountains or under the stars, like I was in the presence of something vast and unfolding.
I'm 52 and also transitioning into the age of realizing that time is limited. It's usually VERY scary, but in an epic-adventure-coming, oh sh*t!, kind of way. Those moments make me realize I have no idea how much time I have left so I want to do the best I can with whatever is left. Love. Care. Fight. Explore. Take risks. Touch. Hurt. Laugh. Cry. Share. Give and receive. And then just shake my head in wonder at the miracle of it all. I mean really...what else can I do with something that big and totally inescapable? :-0!
Thanks for this one! Dia
Some good advice in the previous comments. As one who has passed the 60 milestone, I can only endorse what others have said - live for the moment, relish each day, and look after your health.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jim's comment made me laugh.
And the photos are brilliant!
dia
ReplyDeletethank you.
Judith
I am just being a wussx
and to all
thank you for reading.......and for being young at heart
I think about things like these more than I care to admit.
ReplyDeleteBut you're only as old as you think you are!
*hugs*
You all have a wonderful, blessed week. ♥
Goodness, John, I'm 57 and any birthday you don't want, I'm happy to take. It's always better than the alternative and I'm a Christian! Yeah, I know I'm headed to heaven but like Daddy says, "I'm ready to go but I'm not homesick."
ReplyDelete