All Groan Up

The simplest act of getting up from bed in the morning would elicit a groan from me. To be echoed moments later by my wife as she forced herself to rise from her recumbent position.

With our ages racking up years beyond three scores we were noticing sometimes not too subtle changes in our way of life. Somehow it now takes a longer time for us to go from point A to point B where, for illustration purposes, point A would be the sofa and point B the dining table about 3 meters away. This is living la vida slo-mo.

Then there are the oohs and oofs as the soundtrack of our daily activities: standing from a supine position, getting up from a chair, sitting down, lying down, going up and down the stairs - anything that involves movement.

Which is sort of strange considering our lifestyle. Let me clarify that. For the most part we spend our days in front of a computer - a desktop for me, and a laptop for her. Perhaps while in this semi-torpid state our bodies got accustomed to the sweet sensation of uber relaxation hence the complaints we got when we tried to extricate ourselves from this lethargic mode.

However - and this is a big however - Monday and Wednesday mornings we have our dancercise. Both of us would join other ladies (yes, I am the only hombre in the group) of the same generation and we would coax our hibernating muscles to sway to the lively tempo of the cha-cha-cha and boogie. I'd like to think that we do quite well on this activity - interestingly there were no groans that accompanied the conga beat. 

Our other pastime is bird photography. This of course entails travelling, sometimes walking on narrow trails while lugging our camera gear, oftentimes standing for long periods of time under the hot blistering sun, or at times getting doused in a cool drizzle. Certainly these are conditions that should have toned our bodies to handle the rigors of such a hobby.

So why then those inarticulate sounds that emanate from our mouths during the times when we were not grinding to the music of a salsa or stalking some feathered creature in the wild? I wish I had the answer to that. I guess we just have to accept the fact that we have finally graduated from growing pains to pain groanings.

I am Sick-ty Five!

It started in the afternoon of Oct. 22nd. Two days before I turned 65. An innocent affair with a Coffee Almond Ice Cream led into some turbulent moments that continued for almost two days. The revolt against my internal constitution and the nagging protests from my digestive system made me a participant in the occupy the bathroom movement. Repeatedly.


The whole day Sunday I was so weak and dehydrated that I had to miss church. Bereft of spiritual strength I felt even weaker. My wife, Cynthia, stayed by my side, doing everything to nurse me back to health.


Noontime and I wished I could have fully enjoyed lunch with Cynthia's family. It was just that I was still feeling weak and a tad queasy that no matter how delicious the food my wife prepared, I could only partake so little of it.


When the day of my birthday dawned I was still feeling a bit woozy. Thankfully my appointments with the john have returned to a more or less normal routine. 


Lunch at Tokyo Cafe at Megamall was still handled with extreme caution. After that I waited in silent meditation while Cynthia met with her co-ADB retirees to plan for an upcoming reunion.


As the day came to a close I reflected on what transpired the past days. No matter how much you prepare yourself for something that you expect to be a happy event, life will still throw a curve ball at you. But when you turn into a ripe old age such as 65, you realize that there will always be surprises, some pleasant and some not so. 


Without all the fanfare and the hoopla expected from celebrating a milestone birthday, I still feel blessed. And very happy from all the greetings that I have received via text messages, phone calls and Facebook postings.


Thanks everyone for your well wishes. Dear family and friends, I love you all!