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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Mar 20, 2023 4:54:35 GMT -8
Take notes, dude, yer gonna need to refer to them before you know it. Rumi 15-20 years from now, I will be quite lucky if I'm able to ponder the things you guys are pondering in recent threads. I was wiped out in the pandemic...and worse...and I will most likely have to work until the day I drop dead. I'm authentically happy that y'all get to debate the location of the most idyllic geriatric pastures, and authentically sad that your bodies no longer sustain the preferred amount of outdoor recreational vigor. No punchbowl-turds, that's the truth. But somewhere down the road, if you see a homeless campsite under an overpass that looks out of place - tidy, LNT, and nice ultralight gear - that's probably me. Be a standup chap & toss a spare JetBoil canister or an expired bag of GORP my way. Please and thank you.
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ErnieW
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I want to backpack
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Post by ErnieW on Mar 20, 2023 5:04:04 GMT -8
I started playing Ultimate Frisbee when I was about 14 years old. A physically tough game. It has a very strong culture and it was my family and to a large degree my identity. But getting older was starting to be a factor. After a series of injuries that seemed like they were progressively taking longer to recover from I had to ask myself the question: Do I want to continue playing Ultimate and risk a permanent injury that would keep me from hiking?
The answer was no and in my 40's, after a couple for iterations, I stopped playing Ultimate. This was a bit a heresy to my Ultimate friends and I lost a good part of my Ultimate family. No hard feelings but we did drift apart.
But a new chapter in my life opened up. One that I somewhat unexpectedly found a new contentment. Now without the commitment to my previous lifestyle I had more time for other things and other interested blossomed. Now at 62 I try to work at acceptance of my physical decline and that it will sometimes have larger steps down that will take work to internalize but that there can be new happiness.
I may at some point have to be happy that I can get up and go to the bathroom.
P.S. Damn wrinkly skin.
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RumiDude
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Post by RumiDude on Mar 20, 2023 7:06:31 GMT -8
At 71 I can tell that I have slowed down considerably. With my right leg being mostly titanium from my knee to my ankle I think my backpacking days may be over. I can still do some hiking and that satisfies me. Titanium! I see, yer an ultralighter. Rumi
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reuben
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Gonna need more Camels at the next refugio...
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Post by reuben on Mar 20, 2023 7:11:14 GMT -8
I have some in a wrist that was broken three times, but I'm waiting for my REI rebate to get some more.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 20, 2023 7:50:40 GMT -8
I don’t know what kind of metal they used for that screw in my big toe… hope it’s titanium. I wouldn’t want to be hauling extra weight. An ounce on the foot equals 5 on the back, you know.
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Deborah
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Post by Deborah on Mar 20, 2023 8:29:31 GMT -8
In part that’s an expectation damage I’d move past rapidly previously likely will hang around longer, so prevention gets to be more important. That comment is the absolute truth and one I keep in mind all the time. Lower back/hip issues sent me to a PT who was able to diagnose the issue and gave me exercises to strengthen the offending muscles. Now I am able to exercise with weights and walk farther than 2 miles without that horrible, sudden, and scary pain. She asked me to rate the pain on a scale of 1-10. I asked her what number she would put on "OH Shit that HURT"? She felt that was a 10. The docs have been telling me I have osteoporosis for about 15 years. So far, no broken bones and my height is still the same. It's that concern about recovery from an accident that finally made me decide to sell my backpack, a few weeks ago. No more overnight trips hauling all of my gear. Even if I could substantially reduce the weight with an investment in lighter gear (though mine was not bad) the worry about falling was still there. Day hiking is still on the table, as is car camping, but lately a motel with a private shower is more and more appealing. I have lots of other hobbies that will get me outdoors and am lucky enough to live in Colorado, so some of my day hikes are absolutely outstanding. Over all I am glad to be doing so well at 72. It's true that getting old is hard, but when I think of so many of our friends who did not have that chance, it changes the perspective.
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Mar 20, 2023 8:37:20 GMT -8
15-20 years from now, I will be quite lucky if I'm able to ponder the things you guys are pondering in recent threads. Ever since gabby posted the poem by Ms. Millay, I've had the closing lines of it stuck in my mind: ...It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1921 How morbid is that? Problem is that I think I know how she felt.
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RumiDude
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Post by RumiDude on Mar 20, 2023 9:44:19 GMT -8
The docs have been telling me I have osteoporosis for about 15 years. So far, no broken bones and my height is still the same. It's that concern about recovery from an accident that finally made me decide to sell my backpack, a few weeks ago. No more overnight trips hauling all of my gear. Even if I could substantially reduce the weight with an investment in lighter gear (though mine was not bad) the worry about falling was still there. This is the difference that aging confronts us with. For the first five or six decades of our life, it was about pushing boundaries, stretching ourselves, moving beyond our comfort zone, and discovering new frontiers. But that point comes when we have to start dialing it back and the intelligent thing is to do it before we absolutely have to. In other words, we not only think we can still do it but were actually are still capable of doing it. But to try and find that exact point where we are no longer able is a fools gambit. We should stop before we have to because a miscalculation spells real disaster and likely misery the final years of our life. And stopping while we still can is a really difficult thing to wrap one's head around, especially when it is such an integral part of our identity and self worth. It saddens me sometimes when pondering old photos or reading about activities that I used to enjoy, realizing I will never get to do those things again. But for the most part they become like many other things in my life, just memories of both good and bad that are gone. And as Deborah said, many people were never able to enjoy a past like mine nor live to even the age I have. And so I can't complain too loudly, I will let my creaking joints do that for me. Rumi
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Mar 20, 2023 9:46:10 GMT -8
...It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.How morbid is that? Problem is that I think I know how she felt. I wish I was a babbling idiot only once a year...I never was much of a flower-strewer, though...it never seemed "romantic" to me, to decapitate a beautiful plant & watch it slowly die. (( shrug ))
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RumiDude
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Post by RumiDude on Mar 20, 2023 9:46:38 GMT -8
Ever since gabby posted the poem by Ms. Millay, I've had the closing lines of it stuck in my mind: ...It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1921 How morbid is that? Problem is that I think I know how she felt. That poen reminded me of the opening lines of a rather famous poem by Emily Dickenson: Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me –Rumi
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Mar 20, 2023 9:50:54 GMT -8
That poen reminded me of the opening lines of a rather famous poem by Emily Dickenson: Yeah, I thought of her also.
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Deborah
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Post by Deborah on Mar 20, 2023 10:15:45 GMT -8
ut that point comes when we have to start dialing it back and the intelligent thing is to do it before we absolutely have to. In other words, we not only think we can still do it but were actually are still capable of doing it. But to try and find that exact point where we are no longer able is a fools gambit. Agreed and that worries me a bit about some of my friends. I met a man in REI recently - he works there - I thought he was about my age. Turns out he is 82. He said he stopped climbing when he was 67 and stopped backpacking when he was 72, but he still hikes.
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Post by nickhowes on Mar 20, 2023 10:21:18 GMT -8
maybe a few instant oatmeal packets
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ErnieW
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I want to backpack
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Post by ErnieW on Mar 20, 2023 19:40:16 GMT -8
I think I might be able to deal with the physical decline but mental decline scares me. My mom had dementia in the last years of her life. At times I think it was good. She had a long full life and it blunted facing death.
So for three days I was trying in my head to remember the stuff you put on your face when its cold. Its in a little blue tin. The name wouldn't come to me then finally Dermatone popped into my head. Unfortunately that type of name forgetting can be early dementia.
The other thing that happens that I hear is the sign of an aging brain are flashbacks/memories. Today I had a very vivid memory of driving back from Vermont years ago. Just popped into my head very clearly. It has been happening more often.
Again maybe an aging brain is a blessing. For most of my life I couldn't sit still but now I can sit somewhere nice and actually relax sometimes.
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RumiDude
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Post by RumiDude on Mar 20, 2023 21:14:20 GMT -8
I think I might be able to deal with the physical decline but mental decline scares me. My mom had dementia in the last years of her life. Like many diseases, how dementia affects people varies greatly. Some people become docile and others become belligerent, some become calm and others restless, some quiet and others loud, etc. Rumi
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