How old do I feel?

I recently got my hair cut, and when she was done, the woman who cut my hair asked if I wanted anything else.

As a matter of fact, I did. Like the hair on top of my head, my eyebrows get a bit unruly between cuts, so I asked her to trim those.

And I asked her to do my ear hair.

When I told her asking to have my ear hair trimmed may be the most middle-age-man thing ever, she laughed and said she calls the hair/eyebrow/ear hair trifecta “the works” … like I was paying a few extra bucks at the car wash.

However, as Suzi pointed out, unlike at the car wash, I probably don’t want anyone who cuts my hair to go anywhere near my undercarriage.

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”

Satchel Paige

I do know how old I am, and more importantly, I know how old I’m going to be in five months.

I’m going to be 50.

All birthdays with a 0 at the end feel like they have some significance, and even though I probably still have another 10 to 15 years of “way too soon” if I die, the thought of turning 50 seems like the last obstacle being removed on the way to “old.”

(Suzi and I also celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in July, a milestone that brings neither dread nor angst. Here’s hoping we’ll actually be able to go somewhere!)

But while I know how old I am, and how old I’m going to be, what I don’t know is how old I feel.

Because how is approaching 50 supposed to feel? I know it doesn’t feel like when I was 19, and could play volleyball for hours on end and barely feel it afterward, but is it supposed to feel like the sore heel I get when I play pickleball for 90 minutes?

Is it supposed to feel like the knee I have to straighten out to “pop” every so often?

Is it supposed to feel like dozing off if I lie down for more than a few minutes, at any time of the day or night?

Do all these physical maladies feel like five months to 50? Does it feel more like 60? I’ve never been here before, so I don’t have a clue.

https://twitter.com/meljpollard/status/1476948802128990211?s=21

I think that’s the tricky part. There may be a million things I haven’t done, but I don’t know what those things are, and it feels like I should have done some of those million things by now, but I don’t know what those would have been, either.

It just feels like there should have been … more … by now, and I’m wondering what the more is to come.

Not being able to figure out what you’re thinking or articulate whatever it is … is that a sign of getting old?

How about you?

I first brought up the question of “How old do you feel?” as a possible challenge months ago, but never got off the stick to actually do it until now — maybe because it’s a new year.

I know there were people who said they wanted to take part, so I’m going to tag as many as I can remember, and a few other people for whom it might be fun.

Renata

Kristian

Pepper

Erin

Paul

Jeff

Savannah

Rosie

Graham

Becky

Pea Green

Giggles

Michelle O.

The only rules are that you have to link back to this post (so I can see that you did it) … and you have to not just say how old you feel, but how old you are, although I will allow for approximations.

Also, Bruce has some great thoughts on getting older.

And then there’s this, which for some reason I only just saw, as if the universe was saying “If you’re going to write about how old you feel, go chase this one.”

See also …

Due to real-life matters, I’m not going to have a Sunday recap tomorrow, but here are some things I figured I’d bring to your attention.

Jeff, Erin and Renata tackled the question of where they want to be at the end of this year. So did Paul. Pea Green, too.

Graham had some thoughts about Christmas.

Stacy and her husband moved into a new house.

“I don’t know who needs to hear this but he/she/they need to treat you like you are a gift sent to earth to make everything better and everything make sense.” — Vee

Thomas shared things he was grateful for in 2021, and Becky recapped her year.

Michelle’s year was pretty interesting.

Austin tells us that Aaron tested Holly’s bedside manner. I get the impression he’d be a challenge for anyone.

Pepper had big plans for New Year’s Eve.

I get it more the first day back to work after New Year’s.

https://twitter.com/brucecoulterph1/status/1475099741612564483?s=21

I would very much like one of these.

@PhoenixMercury I GOT THE DIANA TAURASI BOBBLEHEAD🤯 #WNBA pic.twitter.com/DFGiWxY1fL

— Aya Abdeen (@ayabdeen) December 25, 2021

Happy New Year, everyone. We go again.