Can We Talk?

Actually, a more appropriate title would be "Can I whine?" Someone said, "Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion." Conversely, do bodies in bed tend to suffer from inertia? This is my bed in Florida. I am not in it in the picture, but I have been lolling about with a peculiar sense of ennui since the grand kids left last Friday. It is such a huge waste of the few years we have left on earth to lie about without a single urge to get up and do something. I screwed my courage to the sticking point last month and spent a week cooking, freezing, cleaning and generally getting ready for the youngins' arrival. We were so happy to see them and so happy to see them leave after a week. Grandparents know what it was like to be twenty, but they haven't a clue about what it is like to be in your seventies. When we overwork to prepare for a visit (whether it be from relatives or friends), we suffer a kind of fatigue that younger people cannot begin to believe. Then, we spend the visitation acting as good hosts ---- smiling, serving, chauffeuring, staying up late and getting up early. After a week or two of the pretense that nothing has changed since we were middle-aged, our guests leave and we fall flat on our faces. I hold myself together long enough to wash the sheets and towels, clean the bathrooms and the fridge, while my better half vacuums and dusts. Evening comes and I go to my bed and watch T.V., read a book or just lie there like a lump of Play Dough. I sleep through the night, awaken and don't even arise to brush my teeth or use the facilities. I awake sneezing from the allergens in the Florida air and pop another antihistamine into my mouth and drift off for another three hours. I have discovered that I am capable of just lying in bed with no urge to set this body in motion. Nothing seems nearly interesting enough to reverse the inertia. If the doctor told me I had only six months to live, would I spend the time just lying there --- every Silly Putty cell of me? The thing is --- "Honey" and I don't look terribly old, but that doesn't count on the scale of "over the hill on a downward slide". It takes me about three days to decide that I want to live while in an upright position. Once my feet hit the floor, I need something worth looking forward to and I can function again, but it is hard. "Honey" is out on the golf course with a good friend, so I headed out for a pedicure and manicure. I actually thought about going shopping, but my energy level has not risen to that point.

My whining is about the surprise I feel that I am no longer forty five and

"Honey's" problem is with our equipment. The grandson and fiance brought their iPods and Wi's and plugged them into our television. Now, they are gone with all their technical knowledge and our T.V. remote is totally screwed up. Some of the stations are speaking in Spanish while others are filled with static or mute. No matter which buttons we push on the remote, we never get the proper set-up screen and will probably need to have Comcast come out and reprogram us for a small fee. We spent around $500.00 for food, gas, restaurants, padded thermal lunch packs for their kayaking trip --- not to mention the compass and a futon for the extra person. The night before they left, they went out for a special dinner date to a place called "The Melting Pot". Dinner for two (without drinks---they are underage) was $120.00. As old retired people, we would never think of spending that much on one dinner out, but as young budding adults --- they could not conceive of how much the pleasure of their company cost us. There you have it---- I'm whining about the whole thing and I loved every minute of seeing the kids. I must have slipped the mainspring in my brain! I guess I'm feeling like getting out of bed and ready for the next wave of Spring breakers.