Cooperative Living May 2015 - 42

RURAL LIVING by Margo Oxendine, Contributing Columnist
bed at 9 o'clock and woke up
bright-eyed at 4:27. There is no
excuse for that!
I don't really like to get up until
AGING'S
LEARNING
CURVE
B
oy, am I ever on a learning
curve. It's not a fun learning
curve - like, say, kayaking or
knitting or baking festive cakes. It's
the " getting older " learning curve.
And there is much to be learned.
The first thing I noticed, several
years ago, was that I no longer burn
the midnight oil. Except for rare
occasions - and those require
planned napping in the afternoon -
I am ready to hit the hay much earlier
than I ever was.
It began when, instead of going to
bed at midnight or 1 a.m., I headed
in at 11. Then, 10 o'clock moved
into " not too early " mode.
Sometimes nowadays, I find myself
wanting to go to bed at 8:30. One
recent winter night, I recall thinking,
" I can't keep my eyes open; I think
I'll go to bed. " I looked at the clock.
It was 7:47 p.m. There's no excuse
for that!
Of course, the sooner one goes to
bed, the earlier one awakens. It is no
surprise to me when I wake up at
5:30 and am ready to attack my day.
One morning this week, I'd gone to
40
there is at least a hint of dawn in
the sky. Full dark means I am tripping
over Brownie, stumbling for
the light - but not much light;
nothing glaring at that hour,
please! This discombobulates little
Brownie and disrupts her schedule.
She never knows these days
whether her fuzzy self will be booted
out the door for the morning
piddle when she cannot even see.
She's old like I am; if I suddenly
turn on the bright porch light, she
is confused and temporarily blinded.
Poor thing. There's
no excuse to treat a
dear old dog that
way!
Soon after coming
back inside,
Brownie is back in
her bed, snoozing
away. I'm convinced
the reason for this
is that dogs do not
drink coffee. And
they don't really
have a job, so no
one cares if they
sleep the day away.
I, on the other
n't been to bed yet. A friend and I
used to have this saying that
would make us laugh out loud:
" Hold back the dawn! " If you've
been partying all night, dawn has a
tendency to put a damper on
things. Nowadays, it energizes me.
I want to pick up the phone and
call someone. " Wow, are you seeing
this sunrise? " I'm sure they are
happy I do not.
Here's another thing about
In my crazy
youthful
days, I saw
plenty
of sunrises.
hand, do drink coffee.
I have adopted
a new coffee regimen.
I set up the
cappuccino
machine the night
before. I have learned
the hard way that, if I wait until
morning, anything can and will
happen. I have forgotten to put the
coffee grounds in the basket. I have
forgotten to pour water in the tank.
I have forgotten to put the pot
underneath the spout. None of this
bodes well if one needs coffee
before the break of dawn.
I've learned one of the great
advantages of getting up before
dawn is that one gets to see the
sunrise. In my crazy youthful days,
I saw plenty of sunrises. I just hadI
just hadn't
been to
bed yet.
getting older: If you really need to
catch someone who is at least as
old as you are, it is perfectly fine
to call them at 7 a.m. They answer
with a chipper voice that tells me
they've been up since before dawn,
too. Of course, if you make a
mistake, your name
is on the " do not
call " list before you
know it.
Speaking of
ringing phones,
here are my secrets.
Feel free to adopt
them for yourselves,
if you're of a certain
age. When I am
ready for bed, the
last thing I do
before turning out
the light is turn off
the ringer on the
phone. (You must
train yourself, however,
to remember
to turn the ringer
back on.)
I also put this
trick in operation
when it is time for my afternoon
nap. It is amazing the number of
people and businesses who think
you must be wide awake in the
middle of a work-day afternoon.
Speaking of sleeping, I'm doing
it longer these days. It is not
unusual for me to get in a full and
blissful nine hours. There's really
no excuse for that! n
To order Margo Oxendine's A Party
of One, email recorder@htcnet.org,
or call 540-468-2147 Monday-Thursday
from 9-5.
Cooperative Living/May 2015
Cooperative Living May 2015

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