“I had been alone more than I could have been had I gone by myself.” ― Sylvia Plath

I know most of you already know by now that it is Friday. This one has revealed itself as August 7, 2020. The other day some may have chuckled when I said I had never intended on spending this much time with myself. While it is a cute saying, it also has a fair amount of truth embedded in it. Truth is, I'm not always good company. I'm typically up each day around 4:30 a.m., thank you Mr. Bentley, and I go to bed between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. That's a long time to spend with someone who is not very good company. At any rate, as one of our friends used to say often, it is what it is. Fortunately, I have the wife and Mr. Bentley to help me deal with my own boring self. I also have social media and cell phone calls with my sons. I do visit occasionally with our neighbors, just chit-chatting about this, that, and the other. Maybe I am not as alone as I thought I was. I also exchange correspondence with a number of folks via emails and I do my daily blogs. One has to wonder what the future will be like when we all get to the other side of all this 'alone' time. Perhaps by then, I will begin to answer the questions I ask myself. They say talking to oneself is normal but it's when you start replying there might be a problem. As always, we will wait and see. As in, adopting a wait and see attitude. You too? Good. Don't read too much into all of this alone talk. It's mostly just having something to write about and I'm really not that bothered about it, about it, about it!

A flashback from early on in my blogging adventure, some 13 years ago: August 7, 2007, Sixty-plus! Whenever I began this blogging venture some 62 articles ago I used the Sixty-plus moniker as a way of setting some context for the stories that have unfolded. I will soon be sixty-one years old and there are issues that face people as they grow older. The status of one’s health and ability to function and operate is very critical to a person’s sense of independence and mobility. However, one of the things that trouble me is how we in this society have made age along with nearly every other conceivable distinction an isolated unit requiring special interest status. Now most immediately assume I am thinking about all of this because of my age. And, I have already admitted to paying more attention to my retirement statement and other articles and information that would be age-appropriate at this phase in my life. But in all fairness, this is not why I am expressing concern over the segmentation of our society by factors like age. I am supposed to speak again to our Church group called Onward Christian Seniors, OCS, tomorrow evening. It will be a continuation of my first session with them where I spoke about God’s plan for people including when they become what we call “seniors”.

At 60, my view of the senior world was quite different than what I am living today as I near my 74th birthday. I don't have to worry about classifications anymore because I meet every test for determining eligibility to be called elderly. The last year I could find records for was 2010 and at that time there were nearly 22 million who were between 65 and 74 years old or roughly 7% of the total population. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how that percentage number shrinks as folks get older and older. Back then, if you happen to have made it to 90 you would be a member of just 1% of the total population. I guess one way of looking at it is the longer you hang around the more unique the distinction you receive. Along with the rest of everything that comes with advanced aging. I'm not being negative at all. We saw mom and dad live very active and fruitful lives up to their last 6 months of breathing air on the planet. Mom made it to 93 and dad to 87. Well, well, now that I have learned I am breathing somewhat rarified air, I think I will bask in that for a while. Just joking. We live and have our being based on God's provision and I feel comfortable with what He decides. Another blogging week has come and gone. I know for some, the country tune comes to mind, "Thank God and Greyhound it's gone!" (slight modification) Have a great Saturday and Lord Day's Sunday and I will, Lord willing, do my best to come out writing when the bell is rung next Monday morning. Amen. .....More later.