Choose to be spiffy

It's been almost a year since we lost Dutchess, our old dog. Not a day goes by that I don't miss her. Dutchess slept with me from Day 1 until her back got so bad we couldn't get her on the bed. Tried many a time and just the motion to lift her up or for her to climb up was too painful. I even built a new set of steps getting into our house just for Dutchess. So now we have Grace. Grace is a bundle of energy and a full-blooded Australian Shepherd. She is about 8 to 10 months old. She is calming down, so not quite as energetic as a couple months ago. But then she is almost pure black and 95 to 100 degree days tend to wear her down. She loves food, any kind of food. Dutchess and I ate thousands of cucumbers, and Grace tries to like them but she doesn't. But she loves potato chips. Loves them. So I hand feed her a few and then give her a few small pieces, little pieces. And she will get up and eat some of the tiny pieces. I'd let them lay right there until it was worth getting up for if it was me. Her youth gives her the energy to go for it while my age says to calculate whether it's worth it. Big difference.

As we age or become physically challenged or lazy. We tend to do less and less and rely on others or on physical aids. For instance rather than bounce up when I forgot my cup in the kitchen I'll ask Marge to bring it to me. Rather than make two trips from the car to the house with groceries, I'll carry too many bags even if it's uncomfortable. If I spot a penny on the parking lot, I calculate whether I can bend over and pick it up. I have trouble with my hands which makes picking up stuff like pennies or anything small. And then my bender and my get back upper doesn't work like back 20 years ago.

Our gardens and buildings are kind of scattered over several acres where we live. So many times rather than walking from garden to garden or building to building I'll drive the side-by-side instead of walking. I realize the health benefits of walking would be beneficial, but there are days I simply don't care. I climb in the side-by-side and away we go. Some days I'll hoof it, but most of the time I ride in the side-by-side. My tools and everything I need are in the side/side. But so does Grace. She climbs right in and sits beside me.

Years ago I was listening to someone, not on Facebook, and they recommended people park farther away from the store and walk. They said don't take closest spots but take the one that no one else wants. I've noticed that those spots are taken not so much by those out of shape as those with nice cars and shiny paint jobs. I don't mind parking out in the sticks and walking. But if you do this you will be in the minority.

Out where we live there are days when we don't go anywhere. We stay around the place and don't see a soul except the two of us. It would be easy for me to skip a shower and a shave and wear old grubby bibs. But I feel better if I shower and shave and put on clean underwear. (I might get in an accident unexpectedly.) Usually start with a clean dry shirt and clean bibs. It's easy to let stuff slide as we age or for any age matter of fact. Hair cut won't hurt or at least clean hair.

Old age is a number but only a number. We had a lady walk by our market the other day and she looked like 75 at the most. She was 91. Dressed nice. Got around good. She had a faint splash of purple hair in the midst of her gray locks. Stay young no matter your age!