There are moments in life when a certain –sometimes
direct, other times subtle- realization comes to your mind
The understanding that a good deal of your allotted time on
this Earth has already been utilized, is present in everyday activities. In fact,
it is fully accepted. This is ever present in many ways, in many expressions. There
is no question that father (mother?) time does pass on and takes no prisoners…
But,
despite this last factoid, the truth is that today’s medicine, care, diet
knowledge and general exercise activities do have a great deal to do in
extending one’s enjoyable time on this planet. So, I have lost weight this
year, done some exercise, limited severely the intake of red meat (Oh Lord… my Argentinian friends would expel
me from their ranks for that one!!) have NOT eliminated my intake of red
wine (well… I follow those researchers
who tell me that red wine is good for whatever ails me… and it is!!),
increased my dancing time (great cardio
exercise, you know…) and the end result of all this somewhat boring daily routine
is a BP of 120/74 and a heart rate of right around 68.
According
to my MD (Bless her!!) I should be
around (barring an unforeseen event…
Hmmmph!) for a while, much to the chagrin of certain people.
Yet,
there are other areas where we not-yet-extinct dinosaurs definitely can be
picked out (other than the thinning hair).
Well, yes there is that rap thing, the pants below the knees, modern math (Lord… whoever invented that should be shot
and then hung next to Baldor’s tomb –those who studied algebra in Latin
American schools will know the reference…), the constant Tetra-Bite increases
(well, Mega and Giga are no longer enough…
after all there is Instagram, twitter, snapshot and snapshat, what'sup, who'sup, when'sup and all those forever
changing new apps) in all the little machines we carry around and without
which we couldn’t live 24 hours…
I have told anyone who may want to listen (and some who didn't) that, no matter how long one stays in
and becomes one with a new country, there are some topics which are always best
expressed in one’s original language: Prayers, math and cussing. To this, I
have to add –in my case, anyway- reading.
You see,
I started reading when I was 5 years old or thereabouts and have never stopped.
Hope never to. Yes, we now have the walking, talking bookshelves we can carry
anywhere we go. You now, the Amazon, Kindles, I-Books and all the tablets and
Phablets of the world. Each one holding up to 1000 books. Fine and well. If
this is the way to get the younger generation to read, I’m all for it. Yet, in
my personal case, there is something special about carrying a book, passing the
pages with a wet fingertip, creasing the paper at an important passage, going
back and reading again a paragraph I missed, getting ink on my fingertips… I
guess this separates me from the younger generation.
This
afternoon, I took my wife to a dental appointment and waited for her while the
Doctor did his magic… There were 5 of us in the waiting room, ranging from ages
12 to 45ish (yes, and me…. Be quiet!)
and there were 4 people with eyes glued to their respective phones, thumbs
flying in a well-coordinated choreography… then, in this corner, there was me
with a book, reading and passing each page to find the mysteries put forth by
the author on the next page.
Generational
gap, anyone?
Be Well … Be Back!!!
Final
Notes:
· Pray for those who are fighting an illness
which may take them away from their loved ones… Every request is heard, and
counts!!
· Follow us on Twitter … @RJAsPandora
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