These Old Bones. . .

I have never really had a sense of my own age. Having spent my professional life on college campuses, I think I always pictured my self as being younger than I really am. And my life has stayed active since I retired from higher education and continued doing some consulting and, of course, expanded my acting both on stage and in the background on film and TV.

But every now and then my body reminds me that I'm not as young as I would like to think I am. A few long days strung together and these old bones start to creak and moan and tell me to slow down. That's what happened to me earlier this week.

I was out of the house on Wednesday before 8:00 a.m. to work with one of my clients, Ronnie Silverstone of Bubble Rock Productions, at a pair of Charlotte Diamond concerts for a combined audience of 2400 preschool age children at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. (I'll be posting separately on this experience in a day or three.) By the time we were finished, packed up, and had a mid-afternoon lunch, I returned home for an hour or two before heading to Culver City for the monthly Culver City Public Theatre (CCPT). I was back home at a reasonable 9:30 p.m. but I was exhausted.

Thursday was equally busy, leaving at 7:30 a.m. for a dental appointment followed by my quarterly visit to the endocrinologist. Then back home, quick lunch and off to Hebrew Union College (near the USC campus) where, thanks to a recommendation by my daughter, I was a guest lecturer in a graduate seminar on the topic of preparing grant proposals. (I spent about half of my professional years directing pre-award grants offices on college campuses.) This was the first of 2 visits with this class and it really felt good to be back in front of a classroom again. But, by the time I got home, the old bones were really complaining.

Yesterday, I did get to my regular workout at the cardiac rehab center, back home, lunch, off to the podiatrist for my annual diabetic foot examination, run some errands, on to Ronnie's house to complete follow-up to the Wednesday concerts. Finally back home in mid-afternoon where I collapsed on the bed for a long, deep nap.

This morning, these old bones are still complaining and I do hope that I can maintain the weekend as a restful one. I mention all this because my body is reminding me that I do have some physical limitations. I like to tell people that I feel young until I get out of the bed in the morning and try to start moving while my body says, "Slow down old boy, you can't do it all any more." Yes, the pace of life is slowing down a bit with age but I'm an optimistic kind of guy. I'm having a lot more fun now than I did when I always burned the candle at both ends and faced a lot of daily work-related stress.

And now I get clear warning signs if I am overdoing it. These old bones remind me in no uncertain terms!