Picture of the Day 12/5/10 and Blog- 50

Sunday December 5, 2010
Picture of the Day

Yours truly. 1978. 17 years old.

50

Fifty.
5-0. But not Hawaii Five-O.
Old joke. I’ve told it before. Alan King used to say, “I turned 50. People say, ‘You’re middle-aged.’ HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW LIVE TO BE 100?”

Here is the truly scary part. I graduated from BFA in June of 1978. For any of my classmates reading, consider this: We are now older than most of the faculty when we graduated. I checked the yearbook and I think the only teachers that were 50 or older were Eleanor Berry, Barbara King, Ernie Codding, and maybe Chauncy Eldridge. Even Dick Brown was still in his 40’s.

If the old saying “You’re as young as you feel.” is true, I’m actually 70. Between the arthritis in my knees, and the side effects of the kidney disease, I’m feeling it. I sit at the computer for a while, go to get up, and it takes a few seconds for my legs to limber up so I can walk. My energy level is crap. It is so hard to get out of bed in the morning(well, that may be on account of the season). I don’t have the ambition to do ANYTHING. When I worked in the lumber yard at Spartan Industries, Jim Zeno would take off on the forklift. I would take off , run, and catch up to him and jump on the running board. No way I could do that now.

And now the kicker. I had an annual review regarding my upcoming kidney transplant. Because I am turning 50, to make sure I am fully healthy……..
I have to have a colonoscopy. Whoop-dee-friggin-do.

50. Where did the time go? Well, you figure 5 years of early childhood, 12 years of BFA. Almost a year off before 9 and ½ years at Spartan Industries and then 22 years at school. A lot had happened. Fire Department, Historical Society, a lot of races, baseball cards, comics, and a lot of walking.

The changes. 3 channels on TV. 3, 5, and 8. It was high school before Mom and Dad bought a TV that had UHF and we could watch 22 and 33. We weren’t high up enough to get the Canadian channels. I ended up buying our first color TV in the early 80’s. I never had any, but I remember the 8-track tapes. Now we have iPods and MP3 players. I used to listen to all the NASCAR races on WKDR out of Plattsburgh on the radio. Now ALL the races are on TV. Satillite TV. Satillite radio. The internet. Instant information. I actually get most of my breaking news from my iPhone.

The things I have seen. I remember Dad waking us up after midnight to see the first man on the moon. The end of the Vietnam War. The Cold War. 9/11. The ’73 tornado. Rain storms. Flooding. Violent thunderstorms. Fires. House fires. Barn fires. Steeple Market. Lamoille River coming over Fairfax Falls and being amazed at the power of water. Being at Thunder Road when they stopped the races to hear President Nixon giving a speech over the PA and hearing him resign.

Travels. Thanks to racing, especially my nephew Anthony. The places I went. Florida. Central and southern Pennsylvania. Out past Niagara Falls. Enjoyed every minute of it, no matter what the result.

The athletes I watched, live and on TV. Bobby Orr, Carl Yastrzemski, Larry Bird, Bobby Allison, Butch Lindley, Tiny Lund, getting Richard Petty’s autograph at Catamount Stadium.
Championships. Baseball- The magical year of 1978. The Fairfax Fire Department winning two Muster titles at States. Anthony’s mini-sprint title in 2001. And I got to see the Red Sox win the World Series. Twice.

Wow. I really must be getting old. I’m rambling.

No big party planned for Sunday. Just building coverage for the Community Christmas Concert at school.

It’s been quite a half century.