Staying Alive

Staying alive.I'm coming up upon the big six zero. Sixty years old next april! I find that I have reasons to stay alive for my children and my wife but one of my 3 best buddies from childhood died last year, my second best friend has early alzheimers and my last best friend went hiking with me to Heart lake in the Cascade Mountains recently. It was great to see the high mountain alpine lake with ice on it and the incredible view from there! Money is not a problem anymore like it was in my 20's and 30's. There likely will be enough not only for me but for my children unless the whole world economy melts down so that, at least for now is not a problem.

No, the problem I'm facing is finding my way forward. I have my wife's stepfather who flew his v tail beechcraft bonanza until he was 85 four years ago and who still plays golf. I have my wife's father who still is kicking at 89 also and hosting parties for hundreds of people. But for me, I'm not a country clubber. I guess I'm the wrong generation for that. I grew up blue collar. My father was an Electrical Contractor and every summer from the time I was 12 to 17 years old I learned the Electrical building trade to the point where I was able to build my own house from the ground up by age 32.

I don't play golf. Instead, I like to mountain bike, ski, and hike with my dogs. I might be flying planes now except my brother and sister in law died in their plane in Idaho a few years ago and my uncle died in his plane in 1942 so those things sort of put a damper on flying for me alone in my own plane. However, I soloed in 1989 in a Cessna 152.

I have a covenant with God that I won't get a new motorcycle license if I would get injured riding. So I'm still waiting to pass the test before I buy a Kawasaki klr 650 dualsport. I'm an off road rider and only need the license to get to where I want to ride on my bike. I plan to mostly tow it in a trailer behind my motor home to beautiful scenic places to ride. The army has converted klr's to diesel as they are the most reliable licensable go anywhere motorcycle now made. It's a no frills motorcycle that has stayed relatively unchanged since 1984 but will get you literally anywhere you need to go without breaking down.

My wife worries about me riding a motorcycle again but she doesn't understand that I have been riding motorcycles since I was about 10 years old. It is like walking to me or riding a bicycle which I have done regularly since I was 5.

So, mostly what I'm dealing with is finding ways to make life meaningful enough to stay alive. I still have pretty good health now the doctors found out that my thyroid glands weren't working right for a long time now. So with 95% of my health problems solved I'm a new man with no real limitations other that overcoming old concepts of what it is to be old. As I, like previous generations break down old stereotypes a whole new world of healthy 100 year olds will be born. It will take some time I know but someone has to make these breakthroughs into the future where people might live 100, 200 or 300 years regularly. Some of us have to be first!