Sigh........

Another year drifts into the filmy past.
Most of 2009 was my 65th year on this planet.
And my fourth year of retirement from the mighty Mezz.
I wonder if 2010 will be the year I deteriorate so much I become an invalid.
Probably not.
2009 was slow deterioration, but I can still get around quite well, still work out at the Canandaigua YMCA, and still can grovel on my garage floor.
But getting onto my feet is no longer as simple as it was before.
Plus my balance seems to be getting worse.
Not that bad yet, but I notice.
There’s a guy in his 80s at the YMCA.
I hope I can still work out at that age.
I find myself considering the physical requirements of simple tasks, like lawnmowing and snowblowing.
Lawnmowing is sit down on my mower, and let the gasoline do the work.
Snowblowing is walk behind — slightly more difficult.
But I’m sure I could still do it.
I’m sure I’ll get the opportunity soon — although the snow has to be eight inches deep.
I can probably operate my rototiller too.
Last summer a friend brought his classic ‘49 Ford hotrod out, and we proceeded to try to remove the steering.
We failed — there was a trick to it.
But this included my groveling around on the car-floor under the dashboard, wedged in front of the front seat, trying to remove bolts that held the steering-column.
“I can still do it,” I said.
I had just climbed out of my pit, slathered in grunge, after trying to pull the steering-box.
My friend can’t, but he’s a few years older than me, and has Parkinson’s.
Years ago I rode my motorcycle to Rochester Rehabilitation for a post-stroke psychiatric appointment, and a cabbie I’d once had was there.
He’d had a stroke himself.
He had driven Cardinal Cab, and drove me to Rochester Rehab when I couldn’t drive.
“You look fine,” he said, seeing my motorcycle.
“What’s your secret?”
“Orneriness,” I said.
“If you think you can do it, you probably can.”

• The “mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired four years ago. Best job I ever had.
• “Canandaigua” (“cannon-DAY-gwuh”) is a small city nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 15 miles away.
• I work out at the Canandaigua YMCA.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993.
• “Cardinal Cab” is (or was) a livery service local to the Rochester area — it provided taxi-cab service for United Way clients. For post-stroke rehabilitation, I was a United Way client. Most of their cabbies were indepndent.