18 Comments

Beautiful.

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founding

Never apologize for enjoying Enya … I do some of my best thinking with her as my muse.

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More power to yer elbow, Gary ! You've served up more politics and musings about aging. Great ! Just what will get up the nostrils of all those whingers. What delicious pleasure you must take in that ( and me too !).

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"I know I’m in the company of people who know the same hymns I do and I want to throw my arms around them but don’t because we were brought up to avoid physical contact lest it lead to sexual intercourse." Really? Made me laugh. Thanks for making today a better day.

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Sometimes I wish I could just hug you! You are a wonderful writer and so funny, and the world sure needs that.

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Actually, I could hear Fred Holstein or Michael Smith singing that. Maybe, once upon a time, they did.

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“Democracy is four wolves and a lamb sitting down to discuss what they’d like to have for lunch.” Something like how the DEMS always bring a knife to a gun fight. We need some of that fighting brazenness and a bit more Ambrose Bierce in our bubbles. Thanks for the great post GK.

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The mixture of service to others and fatigue feeds my cynicism. It's music and writing that restores my ability to be socially appropriate. Thanks!

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This is filled with gentle insights and, as always, subtlety and wryness.

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“At 80, no one wants to see you. At 90, you don’t want to see anyone . “

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I'll wait and see.

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People may not want see you or you may not want see anyone but you and persons of a special blend will always want to read your writing as if tasting a DRC, Grand Cru , Cote de Nuits 1974.

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Eyesight fades but your heart sees so clearly.

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(*Sigh.) You've done it again: no surprise, but much delight as you gesture to the heart. TY

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Thanks for mentioning Enya. I'm 71 and never heard of her till I read your column. I now have several of her songs in my Iphone. Such a heavenly voice! Had I not read your post it might have been another 71 years before I heard of her?

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She lives in a castle in Dublin. If you go see her, say hello from me.

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founding

Macular degeneration? #MeToo! My father had to turn to listening to audio books by the time he was around the age we are now. My ophthalmologist has all these expensive testing machines - they're great at driving up his bill for the healthcare provider - that make me question my IQ. There's one in particular - I call it "chasing the rabbit." There's a sensor that scrolls down the interior of my eye while the operator keeps chanting "Don't blink, Don't move!" But there's a gap, a line, that moves vertically. It seems as though some atavistic hunter sense has taken over in me - I'm the hunter, and the moving line is the prey. Asking me not to follow that rabbit is beyond my self-control! I get the "look at my left ear" commands, too.

I was really concerned when he first began discussing macular degeneration. Not being able to read a printed page seems like a terrible handicap! On the other hand, I read somewhere that blueberry consumption can help, and it does seem to. Thankfully, the maculas aren't degenerating quickly, at least so far.

There's a new book out about aging that I'm waiting to find sometime soon in the mail. Perhaps it will become as popular a guide to aging, as Dr. Spock's is to infancy and early childhood! In the meantime, cheers for our maculas that so far are hanging in there!

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I aspire to be you. I'm almost 62 and we may be living parallel lives. Do I still have time?

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