Category Archives: Aging

Birthday Decadence

Posted on October 21, 2016 by John Swinburn

Birthday Alarm (which I once used to remind me about birthdays of people with whom I did business) tells me I share my birthday with Dizzy Gillespie, Carrie Fisher, Alfred Nobel, and Benjamin Netanyahu. I should feel honored to be … Continue reading →

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Decrepit and Decaying

Posted on October 8, 2016 by John Swinburn

Evidence of advancing age and inadequate exercise showed their ugly faces yesterday as I tried to prep for today’s planned paint festival. The urgency of overcoming my procrastination in getting the work done became apparent as I looked at the calendar, realizing … Continue reading →

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Locked in to Tunnel Vision

Posted on October 11, 2015 by John Swinburn

Fear and lethargy contribute as much as lack of interest and understanding to generational differences. Consider the massive shifts in the musical landscape that took place after World War II, especially in the late fifties. It seems to me that the Greatest Generation … Continue reading →

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My Father’s Birthday

Posted on July 18, 2015 by John Swinburn

Dad was fifty years old when I was born; he was born on July 18, 1903. Were he alive today, he would be one hundred twelve years old. But he died in February 1985 at the age of eighty-one, when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Family | 4 Comments

Tough Days

Posted on July 7, 2015 by John Swinburn

Yesterday was a tough day, as I learned from a friend that she was afraid her husband, also a friend, might be dying. Just a few days ago, he was taken from the rehab center where he is undergoing physical … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Death, Friendship, Health | 3 Comments

Decay

Posted on May 16, 2015 by John Swinburn

He looked closely at the skin on his forearms. Aside from noticing the moles and freckles and imperfections that had marked his skin for a lifetime, he noticed an absence there. Gone was the softness, the suppleness, that belonged to that … Continue reading →

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Languishing

Posted on May 14, 2015 by John Swinburn

The shriveled old women and wizened old men—sitting alone in wheel chairs and recliners in a large, airy room—look upset. They have reason to be angry. Trapped in uncooperative bodies, they are forced to live in a prison for the weak … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Health, Love, Philosophy | 2 Comments

Kneeling in Pain

Posted on May 6, 2015 by John Swinburn

When I bend down on my knees, I can’t do it the way normal people do. I have to place something soft, with plenty of cushion, under my knees or they wail in excruciating pain. Hearing the blood-curdling screams of knees that … Continue reading →

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Childhood

Posted on March 28, 2015 by John Swinburn

From the perspective of an adult, childhood is an illusion. It is that imaginary time during which the weight of the world did not bear heavily on one’s shoulders. It is that fantasy in which pain is a frightening and unpleasant … Continue reading →

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Some of My Favorite Things

Posted on November 26, 2014 by John Swinburn

I listen to Take Five by Dave Brubeck and feel like I belong in a different era. It’s not that I really believe I’m out of step with today, it’s that I think some people today are out of step with … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Music | 3 Comments

Incremental Aging

Posted on October 21, 2014 by John Swinburn

On occasion, I do what I say I will or, rather, what I say I want to do. I looked back this morning at my post from a year ago and saw that I spoke about my interest in welding … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Just Thinking | 4 Comments

Machete Sharp

Posted on September 23, 2014 by John Swinburn

I bought a machete at a garage sale a few months ago. It cost only three dollars.  Seeing the price, I felt compelled to succumb to my urge to own a long, dangerous knife, the kind with a blade that speaks unapologetically … Continue reading →

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Old World Classics

Posted on July 26, 2014 by John Swinburn

We’re having friends over tonight for dinner, the only people here we know well…she used to work for me, years ago.  We’re having seared scallops over spinach and risotto, with steamed asparagus on the side.  Before dinner, we’ll have drinks. … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Food, Friendship, Writing | 2 Comments

A Little Risky

Posted on February 22, 2014 by John Swinburn

There’s tremendous appeal to me in charting unexplored territories, doing things I’ve never done.  Perhaps it’s the risk associated with taking bold steps that I find intriguing. Or maybe it’s the promise of learning the limits of my courage.  Whatever … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Change, Dreams | 5 Comments

House Surgery

Posted on November 22, 2013 by John Swinburn

The guys came Tuesday to resurface the tops of the vanities in the guest bath and  the half bath, as well as the counter of the wet bar.  I had arranged with them to come Tuesday morning, thinking I would … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Housiing, Moving | Leave a comment

The Ripening

Posted on October 29, 2013 by John Swinburn

I have always thought of age-worry as vanity gone awry, narcissism twisted by irrational emotion.  It seemed to me that no one should agonize about reaching 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 or 70.  When people fretted about reaching one … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging | 4 Comments

Another Year Older

Posted on October 21, 2012 by John Swinburn

Birthdays used to excite passion.  They were occasions to mark progress toward some desirable future, some as yet unclaimed state of affairs, that would be better than today. This murky, never-articulated premise for celebrating birthdays was never clear, but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Philosophy | 3 Comments