Today is Sunday, December 9 and there are only 16 days until Christmas! If you haven’t started baking, get going! Today we remember the birthdays of John Milton, John Malkovich and Nancy Currie.  On this day in 1212 Frederik II crowned himself Roman Catholic king, in 1793 Noah Webster established New York’s first daily newspaper and in 1965 “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered. In Tanzania it is Independence Day and in the US it is National Pastry Day.

I was feeling rebellious recently. I took a shower and washed my hair. I lathered and rinsed, but didn’t repeat! I know, the next thing you know I’ll be hanging out on street corners smoking and drinking with the guys. Not to worry, I quit smoking and most of the guys I know either can’t or don’t drink and wouldn’t be able to hang out on a corner unless there was a place to sit. 

I know I seem to be hung up on this age thing, but you start to realize that you can’t do things you used to be able to do. Most of the time, when we are younger, we are ignorant about the possibilities in life.  Many times I think of something I want to do and realize that, for a number of reasons, I cannot. I always think, “Too bad I didn’t know about this 20 years ago when I could have tried it.”

Of course, there are things I tried when I was young and never tried again. One in particular that comes to mind is skateboarding. Yes, they had them when I was young. Why is it that kids today think that everything they have is a new idea?  Much of the time it is, but not so with skateboards … but I digress  Anyway, a friend had one and asked me if I wanted to try it. I had watched him and figured I could handle it. I got on, stood there for a couple seconds and then the board rolled out from under me and I fell on my face. That was the only time I ever tried that and do not regret passing on further opportunities.

I have thought that I might like to try sky diving, but I don’t think the jump suit would fit over the Depends I would have to wear. I would need that because as soon as I jumped, I would realize that I was plummeting toward earth at an uncontrollable speed, hoping that when I pulled the cord the chute would come out. In the back of my mind would be the cartoons we saw as kids where the cord was pulled and out came the underwear and socks from someone’s backpack. Funny when it is the coyote, but not so much when it is me. 
When you are young you go and do things without any real concerns. Afterward, when you are lying in the hospital with your leg in a cast and recovering from a concussion, you wonder if maybe you should have given the idea more thought. As you get older you give everything a great deal of thought.

You consider things like how much coffee you had for breakfast and will you have access to a rest room.  You wonder if you should take your medications before you do things, because sometimes you get dizzy. You always look around to see where the first aid kit is. Before I go do something, I always want to know if there will be food available. I also hope there will be cocktails.  

I realize that our faculties start to wane, too. I am reminded of the joke where an older woman goes to a doctor to complain about a health issue.  She tells him that she has a problem with constant, silent breaking of wind. He says, “Yes that can be a problem, but first I think we should check your hearing.”

This week our fact tells us that in Topeka, Kansas no one may sing the alphabet on the streets at night. There is no real explanation, but I think it has something to do with hearing a song and then having it stay with you all night. Apparently, someone does not like that song when they hear it at night. Maybe it is because it is generally being sung by someone who is inebriated and, as a result is loud, slurs the letters and leaves some out or does them in the wrong order. This would cause people like me to have to do it right to correct the errors. As an aside from the major issue, have you ever had a song stuck in your head and then you sing a different one to get rid of the song and now the new one is stuck? Me too.