Walking the lake, first dates, and a bowling story

I half jokingly quit talking to my friend the other day when I was griping that I am feeling old. He quipped, “Well Joe, we're almost 70.” That cold bastard!! Up until recently I’ve fought the good fight about getting old. You know, telling myself all of those things previous old people have said. Then one day they turn around and old age has caught up to them, and the grim reaper is now chasing them. And now being old they don’t run, they limp getting away. I’m still gonna fight, I’m gonna make the grim reaper run the race. Without an end to life, is there any reason to run the race? It’s like me working. There are several reasons why at 68 I still do, like not wanting to end my final days dirt poor is one. One reason is, actually there are two. The first one is what will I do with my days, if I don’t work, and the second is… ah, hell old age made me forget what the second one is. I had to go back and correct some typos, and while doing that, I remembered, now damn it, it’s gone again. Every time I had a day off during the winter I sat and watched TV. That is enough of a reason to get up, and go to work. That might be the second reason, if it wasn’t the first one just worded differently.

My daughter, Nastia, you know the one who moved out, the one who is loving the freedom so much that if she and Sean broke up she’d find some way to still not move back, yeah that one. We spend every Saturday between about noon, and 4 PM hanging out together. We did miss a couple of Saturdays in March, one when I went to Tampa Florida to watch a couple of ball games. I’ll write about it sometime, and the next weekend because I wanted to give her some space in case she needed it. During the four hours we spend together I usually have some shopping to do. I eat salad for lunch at work, so I pick it up. I also upgraded the dog food we feed the dogs hoping Misha will hang in there a little longer. Next month we will have her for 12 years. I remember Teri was still working at United Water, and I’d lost my job. I felt like I’d never get another one at the time. Misha has a hip problem, and we're counting the days, weeks, whatever time she has left. It’s not fun watching her slowly get worse. After Nastia and I shop, we go to lunch, or maybe we eat first. We rarely go anywhere expensive. Panera might be the most expensive. When the weather is nice, like it has been lately we’ll walk around Conger’s Lake. I introduced my daughter to walking the railroad tracks on our first trip around the lake because the trail is closed on the western side of the lake. How the freak long does it take to fix some boards in the walkway? Does New York State run the lake too? Every time we get to the closed section of the trail, I start to contemplate jumping over the rail into the marshy black soil where, what we used to call skunk cabbage has started to grow. We called it that, because when you broke it, it smelled like a skunk. As I hoist myself over the rail am I going to get one of my feet stuck, and go over head first, or even worse get my foot stuck and just hang there? I gently swing one leg over the rail, then slip myself into position trying not to castrate myself while looking for a toe hold with my dangling foot. I jam the tip of my sneaker into the fence. Both hands hold tight to the rail, though the sureness of my grip is not what it used to be. With my toe wedged in the fence, I slide my other foot over the rail and try to stick the landing like an over the hill gymnast on the uneven parallel bars. The first time we went over Nastia asked me to catch her. Since then, she doesn’t have the time to wait for me to get over the fence. We pick this area of the trail for a second reason. A big old tree has fallen and crushed the fence separating the park from the tracks. To make up for the old man's act of going over the rail I do a vigorous climb onto the tree and risk life and limb to prove I’m not dead yet. With Nastia’s protestations falling on deaf ears, well not literally deaf yet. I have a doctor’s note saying I’m not. I can just imagine the one time I fall and break my neck Nastia will have to tell the paramedics that her father wanted to prove he’s still got it. They’ll have to put that on my grave stone. Joe Muller died because he still had it. Went bowling this past Wednesday. It was unusually hot Monday, Tuesday, with Wednesday topping 85. Nastia and Sean arrive at the bowling alley with Elena in tow. Nastia has on a pair of shorts, and a light, flowing top. I see it and say to her why did you wear that, you’ll be freezing, they have the air on. She replies, “I’ll be alright.” I warned her, my job is done. Elena, has again come to the bowling alley with Sean, and Nasatia. I’m glad they are spending time together. The front desk tells us we can start to warm up, and take our practice throws. I go to get my ball , Nastia is ahead of me. She leans over to pick up her ball and I’m looking at something that she should not be showing. I say, “Nastia, you're going to have to pick up your ball a lot quicker with that top you're wearing.” She looks down and realizes that it is not the proper top to be bending over in. She goes, “I’ll be alright.” For the next few times she needs to lean over to pick up the ball, she kind of squats. I’m watching her do this from the seats and, I’m sorry, I have to laugh a bit. She’s 27, and should have known better. I ask her sister if she’d mind going to get her sister another shirt, and or a bra to wear. She has no problem doing that, except Nastia says,”I’ll be alright’ After a few frames of the game, and her doing her curtsies, she gets tired of it, and asks her sister to get her some different clothes. At the start of the second game the girls are again safe and sound behind the protection of a bra, and a long shirt, sorta dress thing. We won both games and are back in the hunt for a trophy.

Last Saturday Nastia, and Sean accompanied Elena, and a guy she knows from work on what a normal person would call a double date. Elena said it wasn’t.

They went to a Korean place in Jersey for dinner. I ask Nastia to sneak a picture of the two of them together at dinner. She says it’ll be tough, but she’ll try. I’m at the movies when the picture arrives. I ask her what drugs Elena is on, jokingly. She replies, “weed” I guess she is or was at that point nervous. When I ask Elena how it was, I get the usual story that the food was good, they had a good time. When someone, usually Teri, asks Elena if she is going out with Seth again, Elena makes a vomiting sound. Maybe she likes Seth, but she will never admit to her weakness. She insults him in every way you can imagine at work. Supposedly he does the same back to her. I hope they get past their mutual defenses and can have some fun together. Elena has two faces. The public defensive face. The one where she’ll be telling the dogs to get away from her, she hates them and the other one where she is friendly, and yes sweet, a real charmer. I think if she ever gets past her fist face she’d make a great mom. She’d be fierce. She’d never let her kids be bullied. They’d always know she’d be there for them, they’d feel safe. It’d be great being one of her children.