Running Into Old Age

My favorite definition of old age says that “it is my current age plus ten years”!  That understanding assures us that none of us ever will reach that dreaded stage of life.

However, it was about ten years ago when I first noticed it!  About the time I retired, I discovered that an afternoon nap cured the after-lunch drowsiness that had plagued me for years.  When I began indulging in a regular afternoon nap, that’s when my life began sliding slowly downhill!

A few tasks I used to be able to do without a second thought gradually became difficult, like getting up off the floor.  Days that used to contain 24 hours seemed to have shrunk in length as they flew by because every task took longer than it used to!  Night-time trips to the bathroom increased in number.  Wrinkles puckered up my body in strange ways, and the mirror reflected back images of graying hair.

What was happening to me?  I was running into old age!  The aging process only rarely wipes us out all at once.  It’s more gradual.  Today my back aches; yesterday it was my knees.  Last week I was short of breath; today I have an earache.  Next week I’m scheduled to give an hour’s lecture on my favorite subject, but today I can’t even remember whether or not I’ve taken my morning pills!

Those were the days when I had run into some of the previews of old age.  But, once in awhile, old age runs into us and nearly knocks us over!  This year was one of those days!  Energy was nil; another abcessed tooth had to be pulled; pain problems I thought were solved long ago  came back to haunt me.

A long series of medical tests on my soul-mate revealed nothing serious despite original concerns.  We were grateful, of course.  But that whole temporary confinement in the healthcare system reminded us both that someday the pain might not get better, and the diagnostic tests might reveal a real problem!  We paused to consider the long-term probabilities of these “health-scare” events.  We had run into old age!  Now what?

As we began our annual spring pilgrimage north from south Texas to the mid-West, we noticed that certain tasks were taking longer than they used to.  Setting up in a new campground each afternoon and packing up each morning to get on our way seemed more like work and less like the fun it used to be.  The miles seemed longer; the potholes deeper; the truck seats harder, and the nights shorter.  Even the scenery was not as beautiful as it had been over the years.  It was time for a change.  We had run into old age, but we were determined not to sink silently into its depths!

So, as soon as possible, when we got to our destination in Ohio, we found an RV Park close to a lovely MetroPark, and we started walking.  Morning and evening we walk; sometimes only a mile and a half but usually three miles each time.  We can’t really run anymore, but we walk briskly, steadily, and regularly.

We take time as we walk to enjoy the wildflowers, the deer, the bison, the little garter snake sunning itself; the “croak” of the bullfrog hiding among the the cattails; the red-tailed hawk sitting high on a utility pole; the cotton-tails of the rabbits startled by our footsteps.

As we’ve walked, we have bought a condo, shopped for furniture, planned for a smaller new vehicle, worshiped with a new church family, and visited twice with our son an hour’s drive away.  Sometimes we discuss the problems of the world as we walk, but we haven’t solved any of them yet!

No, we’re not really running into old age but neither are we letting it run us down!  We’ll keep moving ahead at our own determined pace into whatever old age has in store for us in the days that are coming.  Oh, and by the way, our new condo is located on a bike trail, so we may soon speed up our journey into the future.

Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Cataloochee is a beautiful valley in the midst of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in western North Carolina.    We had spent the morning at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, in Cherokee, NC.   After lunch we traveled on the Blue Ridge Parkway where we encountered the following view.

We left the Blue Ridge Parkway in Maggie Valley and headed north toward I-40 on Route 276.  Just two miles south of I-40 we turned onto Cove Creek Road having been warned that the road to Cataloochee Valley is a winding, gravel road that has some steep drop offs with no guard rails.  After eleven miles of winding roads over the mountain we arrived in the Cataloochee Valley.

Before long we came upon a large open meadow area and saw several dozen cars stopped along the roadway.   Sure enough there was a male elk standing out in the open keeping his eye on several females not too far away.   (Of course I had forgotten the camera with the good zoom lens!)

Of course the females were ignoring him completely as they munched on the fresh grass.

The Caldwell Place -- built 1903

 A variety of historic buildings have been preserved in the valley including two churches, a school, several homes, and outbuilding.   Following Indian trails, white settlers pushed into the valley in the early 1800s.   By 1910 this isolated valley was once home to some 1200 people.   However, by 1938 all but a few residents had moved out to make way for the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Barn at the Caldwell Place

Just a short distance beyond the Caldwell place we encountered more elk.   This time a male who was too deep in the brush for a photo blessed us with the unforgettable sound of his bugling.  Hint -- you too can hear the elk bugle by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP1RVEJ--2A

In addition to the elk we saw dozens of wild turkeys.   Cataloochee is indeed a beautiful place.

Smoky Mountain Folk Festival

The 45th Annual Smoky Mountain Folk Festival was held on September 4 and 5.  The main show was on the grand stage of Stuart Auditorium overlooking the lake at Lake Junaluska Assembly, near Ashville, NC.  The two night festival features musicians from Haywood County and many surrounding areas of western North Carolina.  We were able to enjoy a variety of the region's finest fiddlers, banjo players, string bands, ballad singers, dance teams, and folk ensembles.

One of many clogging groups.

The Trantham Family

The Cockman Family

Stuart Auditorium (round building toward the right) in the
Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.

Moving from storage

Ten years ago when we sold our house and began to live in our fifth-wheel trailer full-time, we put a few select items of furniture in storage along with genealogy files, financial records, photo albums, etc.  Now that we have purchased our condo, it was time to bring all those things from the storage locker in Greenville, Ohio, to our  new home.

On Tuesday morning several friends met us at the storage locker to lend a hand loading a rental truck.

An hour and a half later, the truck was loaded and everything was secured and ready for travel.  We enjoyed the opportunity to visit with our friends and share memories and stories of our families.

Our New Home

Today, August 18 -- two months to the day after we left south Texas -- we closed on our new home -- a two bedroom ranch condo located in Westerville, Ohio.

One of the most exciting features of our new home is that it is right adjacent to a bike trail that connects to numerous other trails on the Westerville / Columbus area.

We know that it will take a while to get everything settled to make this feel like home, but once we get established we look forward to visits from friends.

Our plans, they are a-changin'

When we said fond "Goodbyes" to our Winter Texan friends, and headed north on June 18, we thought we were on track, preparing to switch to Retirement Plan B.  Retirement Plan A, of course, was to spend time as full-time RVers.  We've had ten delightful years in that role.  We've seen many beautiful and interesting things in our decade of travel.  Best of all, very early in our wanderings we happened into a marvelous RV resort filled with hospitable and helpful people.

So, as we left the familiar behind, we were prepared to move into Retirement Plan B, living in a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in Columbus, Ohio.  Three years ago, we had taken two weeks to research the CCRC facilities in that area.  (Columbus is not home to either of us but we chose it because it is only a little over an hour's drive from our son who lives in Athens, Ohio.)  

We toured five or six such retirement living communities and narrowed our choices down to two.  We applied to both and were accerpted to be on their waiting list until a time of our choosing.

This spring, a series of medical and dental issues made us think that now was the time to come off the road, hang up the keys, and settle down.  So, we drove north assuming that we would take up residence in one of those CCRCs.  

Several phone conversations with our financial counselor, however, raised some red flags about this choice.  Meeting with him personally, we discovered that the only way we could afford such a residence was to spend the rest of our natural lives in a state of self-imposed poverty!  We decided that we've lived through enough lean years in our early married life that we didn't want any more "peanut butter and jelly sandwiches three times a day" kind of living.  So, a Retirement Plan C had to be developed.

Even before we arrived in the Columbus, Ohio area on July 6, Bruce had been on-line researching walking/biking trails in that locality.

As you can see from the above map of the northeast section of the city, 

all the green lines are hike/bike trails.  This is certainly one of the most hiking/biking-friendly cities we've ever visited.  In the process of his on-line research, Bruce came upon an article related to finding housing near hike/bike trails.  It was very informative and the author was a realtor!  Retirement Plan C was hatching!

We contacted her and she met with us the morning after we arrived in the city.  She had prepared a notebook about her agency's services, the above map, and pictures and descriptions of at least a dozen houses or condos that met our financial criteria.  We made an appointment to go "house touring" in two days.  The following day, we drove around the city checking out at least ten of the homes she had included in the notebook.  We chose four to tour with her.

The realtor had also given us access to on-line up-dates in the listing of available properties.  That evening, as Bruce was reviewing this, he saw a new posting in our price range: a ground-level condo in the area of Westerville,  in the northeast part of Columbus, just outside the outer belt.

Westerville is a lovely area with a small-town feeling on the edge of the big city.  It was rather late in the evening, but we grabbed the keys to the truck and took off to take a look! 

The condo is small (1200 plus sq. ft.), is ground level and single floor like a ranch home.  It has several features that were attractive to us: a two-car garage, and a very modest monthly condo fee.

There is a walking path and a small green area in the condo community, and it is less than a block away from a walking/biking trail!  (On the above bike trail map, the location of the condo is indicated by the red marker.)

We toured it with the realtor the following day and discovered some internal pluses: a laundry room with washer, drier and utility sink; built-in shelving in the huge garage, new carpet throughout; large pantry cupboard, and granite counter tops in the kitchen.  Retirement Plan C was fully hatched.  We made an immediate offer which was accepted!  Thursday, July 16 is building inspection and closing is scheduled for August 19.

Since it is very near the I-270 outer belt around Columbus, we expect many of you to stop in to visit and stay awhile.  However, please wait until we have some furniture to make the inside more livable -- unless, of course, you'd like to sleep on the floor!

The Bridge that Disappeared

We've blogged before about the hard work and great adventures we've had with our younger son on his almost ten acre "farm."  There's a new adventure to report:

Once upon a recent time, amidst June's summer hues,

A working man was tired, so lay down to take a snooze.

Awakening, he was thirsty, so went to get a drink.

He turned the faucet on.  guess what?  No water at the sink!

He went outside to check it out.  'Twas worse than he had feared.

The water line crossed the creek on a bridge that had disappeared!

The creek was flooded and raging from a storm he had slept through.

The bridge was gone, and his driveway cut in half.  Now what to do?

Cut off from the surrounding world by a chasm six feet deep.

No way to get out, or go to work.  It almost made him weep!

But his friends came to help him make a shaky bridge from a ladder,

They brought him drinking water and smiles so he wouldn't get any sadder!

One friend even loaned him a truck so he could get back to work,

With repair bills growing like kudzu, he couldn't afford to shirk!

Then a pipe arrived at his house; humungously long and wide!

It would soon become a new bridge, so again he could go outside.

So where was the washed-out bridge?  Did it damage downstream? he feared.

But far down his creek bed, battered, was the pipe culvert that disappeared!