Category Archives: Senior Moments

Senior Moments: When Will I Be Too Old To Drive?

Senior Moments

 

 I recently read a news article about an 85 year old woman who accidentally ran over a 12 year old child resulting in the child’s death. The driver was pulling into a parking space and confused the gas and brake pedals.  She stepped on the  accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal, then panicked and pressed the accelerator pedal harder.

This unfortunate story should lead us to question how we balance safety and mobility for older drivers. But first let me share an experience that has stuck with me for several decades.

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3/4 of Century and Still Backpacking

Senior Moments
75th birthday gifts from Joyce.

Senior Moments

My 75th birthday rolled around on the 15th of this month. There was no big celebration. No party. This was, as it has always been in the past, my preference.

Joyce bought me a new backpacking tent, some tent stakes, an 8L Exped dry bag, a couple polycro ground sheets for my floorless backpacking tents,  and a small REI Flash 18 backpack for our day hikes on camping trips.

I may be old by some measurements, but I can still do most things I did decades ago. I must temper this with the fact I have been lucky to inherit good genes, been fortunate not to develop any disease, and never been involved in any sort of serious accident. Good luck is nothing to discount! However, at 75, I am beginning to notice I am not as fast nor as strong as I once was. It is a reminder that we don’t live forever.

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Adventure before Dementia

Backpacking, Camping, General Talk, Senior Moments

Senior Moments 

Well, maybe not senior moments. We try to avoid senior moments. Seems many seniors are just waiting to die, we’re out living.

We just returned from a couple of weeks of camping in the desert. It was a totally relaxing. I didn’t take any pics, so you’ll just have to use your imagination and picture the amazing scenery and wildlife we saw, like a whole herd of majestic big horn sheep.

But here’s something that caught my eye: I saw this really interesting spare wheel cover on a travel trailer that said ‘Adventure Before Dementia.’ The phrase sounds pretty catchy, and it also made me think about our own lives. It’s all about perspective, you know? What it means to you can totally change depending on how you look at things.

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