This week's prompt at Illustration Friday is "Up", so I drew this dude headed for the slopes.
I personally haven't been downhill skiing in several years, although I always had a good time when I went.
Maybe I didn't go with enough frequency to get truly addicted. Once we had little kids, and it was harder to get away for such things, skiing just became something we "used to" do. By the time the kids got older, it wasn't a priority, although the kids enjoy going up with friends now.
I think I just associate some activities with a certain age window. I know there are people who ski well into their ripe years, but I'm guessing the average age on the slopes is relatively young.
Yesterday, I went to our local P.E.O. Founders Day luncheon. P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven women at Iowa Wesleyan College. So, each year around that time, regional chapters get together to honor the founders. Here, we have our luncheon on the first Saturday in February.
There are 13 or 15 chapters in the "Pikes Peak" region - I just know it's not 14 - and we had nearly 200 members at our luncheon. It was a nice time. Women are eligible for membership at the age of 18. Then once they're in, they're a member for life. This results in there being a lot of old ladies in P.E.O. Many don't make it out to meetings much anymore, but they make it a point to get all spiffed up and attend Founders Day.
I enjoy chatting with my old "sisters". Many have led rich, eventful lives, and their charitable spirit is what binds us together. I've sometimes caught myself treating old ladies like little kids, but then they'll surprise me by saying something really humorous and/or risque. In fact, I bet a good sense of humor is what helped them get to such ripe old ages in the first place.
My chapter was responsible for registration and name tags, so I was there early to help get name tags handed out, and stayed late to help collect the name tags at the end of the shindig.
As we stood holding the door, 3 particularly elderly women came "bustling" through at a snails pace. As they made their slow shuffle, complete with heavy cane action, one of them remarked,
"Don't worry, we'll get there eventually".
The woman next to me told them, "Take your time, there's a long wait for the elevators anyway", since we were on the 4th floor of the hotel.
One of the three, without skipping a beat, replied, "Doesn't bother us, we're taking the stairs!"
Another woman talked of how she'd divorced her first husband and was widowed by her second. "What should I try next? Women? Bigamy?", she pondered.
"Then again, I think I'll skip bigamy. Who needs all that laundry?"
Maybe a key to not getting old and grumpy is to never really grow up.
8 comments:
Haha, the older you get the more wild you get. Or so I'm told. I like your drawing.
That makes sense. The older we get, the less we have to lose, I suppose. Some of those ladies are total hoots!
Ha ha, those ladies sound like a lot of fun. I like the way a lot of older people feel comfortable acting however they want and don't seem to care as much if they ruffle someone's feathers. Nice drawing. He looks really confident. I would get out of his way quickly if I saw him on the slopes (as I carefully and slowly tried to make my way down).
I think there's a stereotype of the old guy going all "get off my lawn!", but old ladies are quite fun!
There certainly is something quite fun about old ladies - especially ones who have been drinking. We had quite a few in the hotel this past weekend, and they had us rolling.
I went snow skiing in Austria when I was a kid and had the best time. I've not been since, and like you, I'm worried to try again at my age. I'll leave it to the young uns.
They can be a fun bunch, in general. And there wasn't even any alcohol at Founder's Day, unless the old ladies snuck it in. I wouldn't put it past them!
I guess if you're going to have limited alpine skiing experience, it may as well be in Austria!
I tried snowboarding a few times and hated it. I end up in the lodge by the fire after about an hour. I haven't tried skiing though. Maybe I'd like that better.
I've never been snowboarding. It looks like fun. It also looks like injury waiting to happen...
Post a Comment