Author Archives

• More poems and prayers for the sixties

  By 70-and-rising on October 16, 2009 • ( 1 )

  

  Prayers and poems are similar in that they use symbol and metaphor to express large thoughts. To get the most from both, you have to slow down. You can’t skim a prayer or scan a poem to fully savor it…. Read More ›

• Special ballad for sixty somethings

  By 70-and-rising on October 16, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  When I’m Sixty-four When I get older losing my hair, Many years from now, Will you still be sending me a valentine Birthday greetings bottle of wine? If I’d been out till quarter to three Would you lock the door,… Read More ›

• Prayer, sort of

  By 70-and-rising on October 16, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  Some minister once facetiously defined four types of prayer: Thanks, Gimme, Wow, and Oops.  Sometimes, though,  sixty-somethings need a different sort of prayer to get them through the night. Hope Old spirit, in and beyond me,                           keep, and extend me. Amid… Read More ›

• Optimist or Optimist

  By 70-and-rising on October 14, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  In her recent book Bright-sided,    Barbara Ehrenreich objects to the culture’s dogged attempt to change all lemons, no matter how sour, into the most saccharine of lemonades.  She points with disgust to the cockeyed optimists who refused to allow her to… Read More ›

• New Friends

  By 70-and-rising on October 12, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  There’s some consensus out there that it’s hard to make new friends in your sixties: friendships have already been established and family responsibilities are legion. However, if new activities and an open mind invite a new friendship or two, the… Read More ›

• Old friends, old friends

  By 70-and-rising on October 11, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

    Old friends grow especially important in our sixties. They remember us and value us for who we were as well as who we are today. As  Paul Simon put it: “…memory brushes the same years, Silently sharing the same fears.”  While… Read More ›

• Whistling Past the Graveyard

  By 70-and-rising on October 9, 2009 • ( 0 )

  There are good obituary days and bad obituary days. The good ones are when most of the people who pass away are 90+  with grandchildren and great grandchildren, with names of progeny spilling  into the next column. On the bad obituary days … Read More ›

• Grok-ing as much as I can

  By 70-and-rising on October 7, 2009 • ( 0 )

  As I proceed through my sixties, I seem to become better at grok-ing.  To grok something is to understand it so profoundly that its nature is intuitively clear to you.  When you grok someone you truly “get” them. You can grok… Read More ›

• Happiness Is…Getting Older?

  By 70-and-rising on October 7, 2009 • ( 3 )

  Apparently, advancing years often bring increased contentment. An article in the NYTimes of 7/14/08 summarizes the results of 50,000 interviews  with Americans to see how they have changed over time. “One important finding was people who were biologically older are… Read More ›

• Secret of Life

  By 70-and-rising on October 6, 2009 • ( 2 )

  

  James Taylor is 61, born the same year  I was- 1948. His mop of long hair and soulful eyes were featured on the cover of his first album. His eyes are still soulful but his hair is pretty much gone. … Read More ›