On Clumsier

I ease myself into the cold plunge

Yikes

The bright red sign reads 16°C

Real, tested ice bathers might scoff

But since I’ve just come from the sauna and a quick rinse, this is shocking. But so, so good for a body tired from Footie.

I’m slowing down.

Still.

Day-to-day, I don’t notice it too much

But on the pitch

Man, it’s kind of a drag.

A good friend and fellow footie folk captured so perfectly that feeling of age

Ah, that’s a nice ball

20 years ago me could’ve got there

He said.

Age creeps up on us

My legs don’t move like they once did, lungs don’t take air

I trip over my feet more often than I used to.

It’s unnerving.

The essay Wear Sunscreen, famously misattributed to Kurt Vonnegut but written by columnist Mary Schmich, tells us to be kind to your knees

You’ll miss them when they’re gone

And my knees feel pretty good to be honest

It’s the rest of my legs that are slowing down.

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I’m not the best at wearing sunscreen

But I do dance, travel, and hang onto friendships

The ones from long ago that I know I’ll take to my grave.

Again, I remind myself that I am entitled to nothing.

Except, perhaps

a hot sauna and a cold plunge.