"When I'm Sixty-Four"

 I just celebrated a Birthday and it was a time for me to reflect. When I first heard this song "When I'm Sixty-Four" back in 1967, I thought "that is so far into the future." And now that I am 67, I am wishing I could go back to being 64. It is what it is.

I think overall I am happy with my life so far, but there are still a few things I want to do. I just don't have the stamina I use to have. I was always an organizer, both at work and at home. Between coaching ball teams, running the March Madness lottery, planning Halloween parties, going to sporting events, plays, concerts and participating in pub crawls, to name a few, most of the time I was leading and not following. But now I can feel great satisfaction in doing yardwork or sitting down to read a novel.

Travel has become harder to do; I find I do not have the patience for stupid people anymore, and there seems to be a lot more of them out there. I drove to Vermont last summer and found myself very tense on I-95. Crazy drivers out there. This year I did not go up at the same time, and luckily I did not go because Hurricane Debby flooded most of the roads between here and Vermont.

I have been trying to clean out the junk I have collected over the last 67 years, and some of it is hard to get rid of. I have two plastic containers full of magazines. My goal was to recycle one and keep only one. But I am enjoying going through the magazines, and I have subscribed to plenty through the years. There have been a few issues I am not sure why I kept, but I have also been re-inspired by some of the articles I have saved. I mean, the Sports Illustrated with Kate Upton on the cover, who could allow that to be shredded?

My niece Lori sent me a vintage Hawaiian shirt for my Birthday that I like very much. Here I am wearing it.

My previous post was about weddings. After posting to the BLOG, I started to remember other weddings I have attended. There were coworkers like Melony who married Joe, and my great friend Teresa who married Tim in Tallahassee. Nancie who married Jose and Jeff who married Debbie, both in the local area. There was a mentor Bob Post who had four daughters, Robin, Donna, Wendy and Cathy. I was the videographer for all four of their weddings including pre wedding preparations, the church ceremonies and the receptions. Bob owned the camera; I was close to the girls since they were young, so it made for a comfortable situation. I was like their big brother.

So, will I travel more? I hope so. Will I drink more beer and maybe a Bloody Mary once in a while? I wouldn't bet against me. Will I continue reading and taking photographs? It keeps me alive. Will I keep walking on the beach and collecting postcards and coins? Good chance. Will I get through those two containers of magazines? No way in hell!

On my beach walk, I found a whole shell that I took a picture of next to a 2024 Kennedy Half Dollar.

Finding whole shells on the local beach is rare, but I enjoy finding the partial ones too. I have always been an easy-going guy, but that may just be part of the dream that has been my life.

I need to start writing a song, "When I'm Eighty-Five". You'll be older too!

About Title

"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and released on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was one of the first songs McCartney wrote; he was about 14, probably in April or May 1956. The song was recorded in a key different from the final version; it was sped up at the request of McCartney to make his voice sound younger. 

"When I'm Sixty-Four" was included in the Beatles' 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine. It was also used over the opening credits of the 1982 film The World According to Garp.