LITTLE THINGS MAKE LIFE MORE TOLERABLE

Hardly anything about old age is appealing, at least not for most people.  There are all the aches and pains, the medical problems, the difficulties with making ends meet on a retirement budget . . . and loneliness and boredom.  I've learned, like many elderly people, that the little things make life more tolerable for us.  I never got excited about a cup of coffee back when I was a younger man, and I've always loved it.  Time was when I popped out of bed in the morning, drank a couple of cups of coffee, then headed off to work.  I had things to do, fishes to fry, that sort of thing, and coffee was just part of the routine.  Now it's a big deal to me, and that's just a little thing.  I'm not just a morning coffee drinker
anymore.  Coffee goes good with sunsets, especially if you've got a quiet place in the back yard to sit and enjoy the evening.  I do this alone because my wife doesn't like sitting outdoors.  Mosquitoes eat her alive, as do all sorts of other bugs.  It's like feast time when she shows up, but they don't bother me much.  Maybe they don't see anything about me worth wasting time on.

My little things include growing things - flowers, trees, bushes, scrubs, vines, and . . . critters of all kinds.  That includes both the domesticated kind, like the dogs and cats we have around here, and the wild kind.  I never paid any attention to birds until I got old, but I do now.  I even like lizards, snakes, frogs, and turtles . . . and fish.  I keep a few exotic fish in a pond out back, and I like plants with big leaves.  Got them too, and lots of blooming things.  My home town is full of flowering crape myrtles right now, and pomegranate trees (big bushes), and pecan trees, and other nice trees.  I like that, and I pay attention now.

The good thing about paying attention to little things is that they have a way of turning into big things.  Life is more tolerable, even pleasant at times, due to the wonders around me that were overlooked for many years.  I'm slow these days, and slowing down puts me in a better position to discover things I missed over the years.  I'm glad they're still there for me to enjoy now, but I grieve some over what I missed years ago that won't ever be there again.  In my haste to be successful, I didn't notice some of the things that success can't buy.  I won't ever get a second shot at some things I missed, but I'm wide awake now and paying attention.  So, bring 'em on.  I'm finished taking my licks at the big things, or what I thought was big at the time.  Nowadays, they don't seem so big . . . and that's a good thing.