THE ART OF AGING GRACEFULLY—-OR NOT!

If we are fortunate, we will age. It will happen, whether you like it or not, and if you are healthy, it needn’t be a time of despair. My friend refers to us as “functional seniors”, which is also an apt description of an old car in good repair.

These are mostly the seniors I consort with, although there are a few who no longer function as well, and I love them even more for their courage in the face of their pain. A strong woman does not let the hardships of life tear her apart. But a woman of strength goes on to accomplish what she wants even when she is torn apart.

Two women friends who are well into their senior years, one of whom is nearly 91 (going on 75), prepared a full Christmas dinner for their large families, and thought it was not a big deal. Another, a high school friend of mine of 85, regularly drives almost 4 hours to Lake Tahoe from the Bay Area to see her family. My mother-in-law, when in her 70’s, drove a number of times to Washington state to visit us, sometimes carrying a jug or two of the good wine we liked. As a matter of fact, she got a ticket once in Ukiah for speeding. I don’t think the trunk was inspected however.

My husband, who is quite a handsome fellow of 86, can frequently be found on top of our roof, or at the top of a ladder trimming a tree. His loving companion, besides me, is a frisky Jack Russell Terrier, a breed sometimes humorously referred to as Jack Russell “Terrors” They regularly disappear twice a day for mile-long walks which keeps them both in trim.

I took part in a great tap and ballet class with a stunning group of women when in my senior years, as well as a Tai Chi group for many years. As a dare from a grandson, I got a tiny “three-feather” tattoo to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary, even though I really, really dislike the abundant tattoos on other people! Show a little class, please.

However, the best example of a “functional senior” is Liu Qianping, who is a 72 year old grandfather in Beijing. The five foot 8, 110 pound former rice farmer has become the new fashion sensation, and according to his fashion-designer granddaughter Lu Ting, “Looks great in crimson”. After struggling to find a model who could boost her online store, she realized her retired grandfather was the perfect model for her line of clothing, and now credits him with more than quadrupling her sales. He sometimes struts out on stage doing his own version of Korean rapper Psy’s “Gangnam Style” dance.

Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

A PAEAN TO THE LOWLY FOOT

I know you probably don’t want to think about it, but that appendage at the end of your leg has become big business, both for the fashion and the medical industry.

Jimmy Choo, Ferragamo and Dr. Scholl are coining big bucks off those twinkle toes. From classy six-inch heels to corn plasters, we tender a lot of our hard-earned cash to heal and enhance our feet.

After the first inspection of the baby toes to ensure that all ten are present, we tickle them, play “this little piggy”, and then forget about them, leaving them to fend for themselves.

During our young adulthood, we reach a comforting concinnity with our feet, annointing them, adorning the toes not only with polish, but with tiny rings, hoping they will reach the same level of beauty as the hands. We read phrases such as “her graceful white hands, long tapering fingers, etc.” But your never read such accolades given to the foot. Feet are crammed into too-tight shoes, sloppy flip-flops and expensive athletic shoes and expected to thrive and remain beautiful. Instead, they go their own way.

In their beauty period, while revelling in the toeless barefoot sandal, we carefully trim and clip the toe nails, but when the mature arms can’t quite reach them and older eyes can’t see them we must pay someone to look at those long-gone cute feet and cut the thickened unpolished toenails. I’m not there yet, but I can see it coming some day and it isn’t a pleasant prospect.

Companies such as Dr. Scholl’s supply a myriad of aids for the tired and aching feet. There are supports for flat feet, hammer toes, corns and bunions, toe spacers and even “dropped foot” (although I can’t imagine where they go if you drop them.) Without these palliative aids, bad feet can cause a misalighnment of the spine and other unpleasant problems, not the least of which is having to resort to ugly clunky shoes, canes and walking sticks.

Yes, we take our feet for granted, but try walking around without them.

THE REDHEADS

Another Lady of the Night  KSR

Red hair is the rarest natural color in humans.  Maybe that is why I so desired having it.  As a teenager I once knelt on our kitchen floor washing my hair in a bucket filled with chamomile tea because someone said it would make my hair turn red.  Alas, no such happening occurred as I emerged with the same natural mouse shade that I went in with.

In various times and cultures, red hair has been prized, feared, and ridiculed.  A common belief about redheads is that they have fiery tempers and sharp tongues.   I have a cousin and a daughter who have red hair and neither fits that description.  Although an aunt, who was a redhead, once said of my daughter that “She doesn’t have that red hair for nothing!”  My husband had several cousins who had red hair and they were all perfectly presentable in polite company.

Another belief is that redheads are more highly sexed and mischievous than the rest, which is also untrue.  Many painters including myself, have exhibited a fascination with red hair.  The Renaissance and pre-Raphaelite artists were notable for their redheads.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story  “The Red-Headed League” involves a mysterious group of red-headed people.

Queen Elizabeth I of England was a redhead, and during the Elizabethan era in England, red hair was fashionable for women.  In modern times, red hair is subject to fashion trends, and depending which current actor or actress is currently popular it  can boost sales of red hair dye.  To name a few, Robert Redford, Nicole Kidman, Red Skelton or Lucille Ball come to mind.

In Britain, any dislike of red hair may derive from the sentiment that people of Irish or Celtic background, with a greater prevalence of red hair were ethnically inferior.  In America, film and TV programs often portray school bullies as having red hair.  The nicknames “ginger” or “red” distinguishes the recipient as being someone separate from the rest.  Medieval beliefs included moral degeneration, witchcraft and vampirism.

The color red itself, signifies danger, stop, look out  for roadblocks.  Redheadday is the name of a Dutch festival that takes place each September in the city of Breda, the Netherlands.  It is a gathering of people with natural red hair, but is also focused on art related to the color red.

All of which continues to endear myself to red hair. Maybe because it denotes a spirit, or a certain “spit-in-your-eye or “don’t tread on me” attitude that is so appealing.