The dreaded light came on in my wife's car the other day as she drove to work. Then the car dutifully stalled. This had me thinking as we were wrapping up spring break in Orange County (where the beautiful people live) and driving the 400 miles back to San Francisco. This blog might appeal to my readership at the mid point of their life as is the case for me, while for others it might be like watching paint dry ... unless the latter is your thing it would be good to go ahead and read it anyway.
I am refering to the concept of gaining perspective on your own mortality at this mid life crisis moment where you and the spouse (in most cases) have pulled the ox cart up the hill and now are catching your breath on the plateau before its all downhill ... the kid is about to wrap up school while you are on that plateau hopefully and you are going to stick around to watch him, her or they graduate (to something they think is worth graduating for).
Going downhill and all is fun (in a Porsche or a Fiat - depending on your perspective of the mid life crisis) but its worth checking to see if you still have brakes left. Also note that mid life is a mere optimistic estimate (what with all the high funda statistics we learned) with no guarantee that it will indeed be so...the bucket as they say might be round the corner on that plateau.
Getting back to the 'Engine Light' analogy - it is interesting that like a car you also have to start thinking of your own 50,000 mile major service soon. Check in and stay a while - get all your tubes and orifices and valves checked and make sure that there is proper oil and other fluids in you to keep the ticker going for the next 50k.
Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry. Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while. Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...
Hope lies eternal in the human breast, as some wise guy has already said. There was a joke about Shantanurao Kirloskar, when he once replied to someone asking him how he maintained his health at 80 or so years..."it's a Kirloskar product, after all"
ReplyDelete