Debbi K. Swanson
I’ve been AARP’D, too!
I didn’t mention it in my July column, but now it’s done. I hit 50. I was actually born between the first number one rock ‘n roll song “Rock Around the Clock,” by Bill Haley and the Comets, and the opening of Disneyland. So imagine my joy when the day after JPL successfully exploded a portion of that comet on July 4, they brought out the original Comets, as in Bill Haley and the Comets, for a lunchtime concert on the quad. My guy Steve works there so I got to join him for the fun. What a kick. Those guys are in their 70s and 80s and still going strong.
The ouch is that I was AARP’d more than a month BEFORE my birthday! Was that a great cover of Senior Life last month? “I’ve Been AARP’D!”? I got the issue, read Bob McCullough’s own experience with being AARP’d and the next day I got my first welcome to AARP letter. At least I’d been comically prepared for the wake-up call.
So turning 50 brings up for me that list of things to do before you die. You’ve heard of it, maybe done one yourself? Since I was 21 I do new things on my birthday. So far I’ve done nothing as nutty as Billy Crystal in City Slickers, and I haven’t come home with a cow. But I have done some wonderful things on my list.
Here are a few:
- Went up in a hot air balloon - three times
- Went to Paris
- Met Mr. Right (finally!)
- Flew in a glider over the desert
- Bought my home, went to Hawaii, took friends to the Magic Castle’s séance room and got my motorcycle license (all for my 40th…a bit excessive, I know)
- Flew in the B-24 Liberator
- Attended a writing workshop in a faraway place
- And JUST became a yoga teacher (a nearly year-long process for that one)
I do modify the list as I get older as the daredevil things lose their luster. But some I can’t shake, even as I am now valuing the spiritual and nurturing over the thrill. Here’s a few of what’s left on the list. What’s on your list? Having great things to look forward to keeps you young!
- Go bobsledding (I’ve been at the Lake Placid run, but too early for snow!)
- Return to Paris with Steve
- Take a race driving course
- Publish my memoirs (working on them!)
- Go to Sweden to see where my grandparents lived
- Teach yoga in extraordinary places and settings
- Integrate my life (getting better at this!)
- Become a better photographer
- Figure out what to do with all the photos I already have!
- Go to New Zealand
- Go on spiritual retreats
- Build a retreat center
Definitely Not on My List
One thing that’s not on my to do list is robbing banks, like the senior citizen bandit who’s still out there as of this writing. Robbing banks in his 70s? I’m amazed and bewildered. Is this what happens when your social security runs out?
Dog Days of August
So now it’s August. When I was a kid, August was like Sunday - a very long day that’s over way too soon because school awaited on Monday. My worst August memory was going to the public pool and not getting picked up by my friend’s brother. So I decided to walk home. I was 8 and had no idea how far home was. But I hated waiting and I hated heat — it literally made me ill - so I headed off confidently in my anger.
I crossed the first big street and headed up the most direct route — a street with no sidewalks for much of it and few trees since the housing tract was fairly new. My determination wilted as the pool water’s coolness wore off. The temperature climbed as the sun heated the black asphault beneath and all around me. By about 3 p.m., I was sweating and had no water or soda to drink. Blocks went by, until I hit the big main street that meant my house was still another 8-10 blocks away.
I turned the corner and limped along, having added a blister to my endeavor. I was on the way to fainting, so I stopped and leaned against a tree to get some shade. I put my head down for a minute, and when I looked up there was the Cavalry — my mother and sister driving by on their way home from shopping. Mom put me in the back seat and as soon as we got home she put me in her shower and turned the water on cold to get my body temperature down. Then Dad made everything better by taking us out to our favorite Tahitian restaurant, where the waiters never wrote down anything, just remembered it all in their heads, and we’d see ol’ Hoss from Bonanza, Dan Blocker, having a few cocktails in the bar after a long day of shooting. It was cool and dark, and with a little sweet and sour pork, all was right again.
Keeping Current
Here are a couple of upcoming items you might want to check out to stay on top of current local events.
Former Senator Jim Brulte is speaking at the Legislative Luncheon, August 18 at the Holiday Inn, 25205 La Paz Rd., Laguna Hills. He’ll be talking about what’s happening in Sacramento, and we know with the Governator, there’s a lot going on.
The next day, Karl Warkomski, Mayor of Aliso Viejo, shares the State of the City at the Aliso Viejo Golf Club. Warkomski will bring you up to date with the City’s progress and future plans, and you can network with City officials and Council members. In addition, the Honorable Tom Wilson, Fifth District Supervisor and Board Vice Chair, will present the Businesses of the Year Awards.
For fun, catch Late Nite Catechsism 2 - The Sequel, Monday nights at Laguna Beach Playhouse (949) 497-ARTS, or the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood (818) 508-4200. That funny nun is habit forming!
Ok, the answer to last month’s quotation author: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.”– Soren Kierkegaard
This month’s quote: “I invented my life by taking for granted that everything I did not like would have an opposite, which I would like.”
Hint: She was born in August.
Til we meet again…