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A faltering Step.
by Gerard Oosterman
As I took the empty cup back from the bedroom, I, for no good reason and totally unintentional, faltered and like sometimes seen during a weird religious procession, feebly took a step backwards. This step was not intentional or religiously motivated. I never felt that a belief in the Here-After would necessitate taking a step backwards. I meant to keep going forwards towards the kitchen-sink in a normal straight line. I wanted to rinse our first ‘coffee of the day’ cups, resolute in making the second one.I have done so for many years. There was nothing in this mornings procedures to indicate there was going to be a lapse in that.
Am I now on the cusp of an era whereby I will, and with increasing frequency, falter? Up till now I prided myself that no one would get up for me in the bus or train. I still jauntily would hop on and hang from a strap, pretending to have an IPhone, scrolling through important data.
My wife spoiled this illusion, of still being youthful, by pointing out that many elderly were also hanging from straps and in any case, the young now don’t get up anymore. That the world of consideration and respect on public transport has disappeared together with knitting, friendly conversations and reading newspapers. Stress is now the main catalyst in the lives of many, especially the young and the previous effervescent. It shows in the faces, all so puckered and tensely concentrated. There now exist a kind of restless concentration on public transport. I don’t really understand this as yet, but am getting close. I’ll let you know.
Ever since large families have disappeared, the young are now hooked on getting ‘likes’ and ‘face-book’ alerts on their 5G IPhone. They connect on dating sites and even have sex on line through vibrating messages on their Apple inside their pockets. No time for getting up on public transport. It would show up and be embarrassing.
I decide to keep a watch on future falter or other signs of decrepitude of which, so far I have not been bothered too much. Sure, my recall of names and facts are somewhat slower but I still remember my first books (Eric The Norseman) and loving dates, alas without vibrating IPhones in my pocket.
There is still so much to experience.
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
I think we too are best to take extra care. I know of too many who come off ladders etc and make a right mess of themselves. Feet on the ground ~!
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Could have been killed Viv. I had to get on the roof as normally Tutu would hold the ladder so I could stand on the top rung.
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I’ve had a similar realisation. My oldest son took me out on Saturday, for a day of beer tasting, lunch, dinner and male company. It is now Monday afternoon, the headache is starting to subside and the stomach is settling. It’s difficult to avoid faltering, when one feels enfeebled.
I can empathise with Hung. We decided to replace the solar oven, also known as cement tiles, with a Coolmax steel roof. I was up for doing it myself. Mrs M laughed, then rang a roofer. Old roof off, and new one installed in three days. Id still be wondering what to do with the old tiles, if left to my own devices.
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Beautiful Gerard ! I just love your philosophical musings and comments on society .
I have a friend who tells children to stand up for her if she is on a bus !
Yes -that is the next worry as we age -losing balance -tai chi helps –
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Know how you feel Gerard. Since living alone I’ve had two falls. One from the roof when cleaning the gutters. Luckily the ground broke my fall. I dusted myself off but the next day my hip back and left leg were really sore. I lost three days wages over that and have vowed to get a man in next time. My next fall happened when gardening. I over vigorously attempted to pull out a weed. When the weed let go I fell back and knocked myself out by hitting the fence. An hour later I managed to get inside. I went to work that night and made a blue as I couldn’t think straight and got into a lot of trouble. So much for the outdoors. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Hung, get some stainless steel mesh installed in the gutters…expensive, yes, but a one off cost!
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Yeah good idea M. One thing that has changed though is the main culprit was a white cedar tree in next doors back yard. It was removed so I am hoping gutter cleans get less frequent. I was actually doing them every 3 months.
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It was the same here, we had a huge ‘rough bark’ which had the bulk of it’s branches above the house, so I was climbing onto the roof every six weeks to get the detritus out of the valleys, plus the gutters. We had it cut down. Fortunately it was within three meters of the footings, so didn’t require council approval (a bloody nightmare, here).
I still ended up on the roof after every big storm to replace the bloody cracked tiles. Made more sense to get the whole lot replaced.
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This cedar tree started growing over my house so the owner pulled it. The downside was the beautiful garden that Tutu created down one boundary got fried.
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