Author description from my upcoming book, "Far from Home"
Oct 10, 2021 14:01:21 #
Don Schaeffer
Loc: Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Don says this.
As I grow old beyond maturity even with my unresolved childhood hanging like a canker on my memory, I have started to lose interest in many things that obsess people still building futures. It is taking me far afield, but in a smaller and smaller space. Anyone who comes upon my writing will find this theme, perhaps noting how unhealthy it seems. My world of fading memory, restricted spaces, and frantic searches for niches and holes in reality are the themes of this little book.
As I grow old beyond maturity even with my unresolved childhood hanging like a canker on my memory, I have started to lose interest in many things that obsess people still building futures. It is taking me far afield, but in a smaller and smaller space. Anyone who comes upon my writing will find this theme, perhaps noting how unhealthy it seems. My world of fading memory, restricted spaces, and frantic searches for niches and holes in reality are the themes of this little book.
Oct 10, 2021 14:21:32 #
Oct 10, 2021 23:32:49 #
Don Schaeffer wrote:
Don says this. br br As I grow old beyond maturit... (show quote)
I think that is just part of life. There was a time when everything was new and we want as much of it as possible. Then we get tired of those things. Some were also taken away from us without our approval.
I for one loves hiking in my youth, but later, just climbing the stairs is becoming a burden.
Maybe somewhere in our mind we are reminded of our waning time so perhaps, unknowingly we tend to prefer only those stuffs that really matter or we really loved.
For me, I'm saddened that some of those things that I learned and perfected will be a knowledge & skill that will pass away with me. Perhaps some will rediscover them, but how much better if the knowledge is just passed on.
Oct 11, 2021 05:54:07 #
“Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then” - Bob Seger
Oct 11, 2021 08:01:22 #
PaulBrit
Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon
Don Schaeffer wrote:
Don says this. br br As I grow old beyond maturit... (show quote)
I am 77 in a little under a month. My initial response to your last sentence was to agree with the doom and gloom expressed. But then I reflected on things. You are writing so am I. I suspect you are trying to find some sense in the world. Possibly coming to the conclusion that there is none. Hoping that soon we humans will turn back to the natural order where there is no waste before we run out of planet Earth. It is a most interesting period especially for the aged!
Oct 11, 2021 08:53:59 #
DougS
Loc: Central Arkansas
Sounds wistful, full of unfulfilled dreams. I suspect we all have many of those. And an interesting book subject, and one we all could write... maybe.
Oct 11, 2021 12:00:20 #
Alafoto
Loc: Montgomery, AL
Don Schaeffer wrote:
Don says this. br br As I grow old beyond maturit... (show quote)
True of me at 75. I wonder what the average age of regular participants on UHH is.
Oct 11, 2021 12:12:40 #
RiJoRi
Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC
Getting older wouldn't be so bad if my mind didn't think I was 18! 😂
--Rich
--Rich
Oct 11, 2021 14:00:00 #
I saw a TV series once that Barbara Stanwick was in and there was a line in it where she said "I am a 20 year old woman, locked in a 60 year old body" That could apply to a man or woman and certainly applies to me. I still love doing all the things that I used to and at 81 am lucky enough to be able to still do some of them, but the writing is on the wall. I am not afraid of the last adventure that we all must take, but I like it here and wish I could live 200 more years. I have some pretty good photo art that that I display in my home that will most likely not have a home when I am gone. 60 years of photography just discarded. It seems so wasteful to accumulate all of the knowledge that we have and take it with us when we go.
Oct 11, 2021 14:51:25 #
Oct 11, 2021 17:17:27 #
This thread brings to mind the famous German proverb, cited here without translation:
Ve get so soon old und so late schmardt
Ve get so soon old und so late schmardt
Oct 11, 2021 17:38:28 #
I am looking at 90......no regrets, except for a few things I did not do.....I too am locked in a younger body, but the snow white hair and the larger waistline say I am old.LOL
Oct 12, 2021 20:52:28 #
As dancer stated I am also pushing 90. I am also working on what will be my last book and I am trying to make it's photos have captions that will explain why I chose a photo or a subject. The little introduction poem is here.
"When your hearing is going and your eyesight is burry,
You know what to do and that you really must hurry.
But your memories are there in a box tied with a knot,
And your handwriting rests in a land somewhat forgot.
Panic arises we still have our stories to tell,
And we realize we are closing on that final bell.
Yet through that foggy mist we can still see,
The story of a life, the story of me.
Just remember to run down the basement stairs so you will be nearer the bottom if you fall.
By the way I love your title
"When your hearing is going and your eyesight is burry,
You know what to do and that you really must hurry.
But your memories are there in a box tied with a knot,
And your handwriting rests in a land somewhat forgot.
Panic arises we still have our stories to tell,
And we realize we are closing on that final bell.
Yet through that foggy mist we can still see,
The story of a life, the story of me.
Just remember to run down the basement stairs so you will be nearer the bottom if you fall.
By the way I love your title
Oct 13, 2021 07:48:40 #
PaulBrit
Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon
SpikeW wrote:
As dancer stated I am also pushing 90. I am also w... (show quote)
Love this poem!
Should that be ‘blurry’ at the end of that first line?
Oct 13, 2021 13:56:23 #
As I have grown older, I have realized that the day for me to fix the world's problems has come and gone. It is very freeing to step back and let younger people do the work.
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