Am I too Old

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Povarian

Forager
May 24, 2005
204
0
63
High Wycombe, Bucks
ChrisKavanaugh said:
I think Lewis Carroll's YOU ARE OLD FATHER WILLIAM is appropriate here. Can somebody paste it?
Sure thing...





You Are Old, Father William
"You are old, father William," the young man said,

"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head--
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And you have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door--
Pray what is the reason for that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling a box--
Allow me to sell you a couple?"

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak--
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs.



Me? A mere whippersnapper at 45.
 
B

Bob Hurley

Guest
I know of something that will put age into perspective - do a Google search for "Emma Gatewood" or "Grandma Gatewood". She through-hiked (meaning starting at one end and continuing to the other) of the Appalachian Trail at age 67. A year or two later she did it again, and years later she broke the hike into five sections and walked it a third time. The Appalachian Trail covers some very rough and mountainous country and runs from Maine to Georgia, a distance of over 2,000 miles.

You'll get a kick out of the "kit" she used for all this, have a look here: http://www.monmouth.com/~mconnick/ultralig.htm .

:D
 
The best story I know about getting old happened in Ireland where I was field mapping. I used to drop in on an old farmer for a cup of tea each day. He was bad enough, and proved to us that he could outrun us, despite being closer to 70 than 60 . And we were students walking up and down hills all day long. One day Martin had a big favor to ask because his friend who lived up the valley was getting just too old, at well over 100, to walk the miles to visit people. The favor was to ask us to pick up a bicycle, on our next trip to town. He did fine on it too.
 
Maybe it's more important to encourage the youngsters...
I'm a school teacher, and i could be retired if I chose. And I have all the good stuff that comes with age - so hilariously enough I just got given a bike too. I have great hopes that this year I have a class where less than 20% of the kids have problems keeping up to me on walks to the library: I've seen as high as 30%. Now that's scary!
 

Razorstrop

Nomad
Oct 1, 2005
314
6
North West
Too old indeed!!! :eek:
Anyway the best thing to do is get cracking, get yourself out and into the world you live in, have a look around see what you can see, look deeper into places you would ignore and see how you feel. IF the desire is still there ( it will be) think about investing in a book or two, start getting a little base theory behind you and take it from there. The only limits are the ones you impose on yourself. Bushcraft means something different to everyone who practises it , from newcomer to master, all you have to do is find out what it means to you :)

Best of luck with your journey and keep us all posted how you are doing :)

Regards
Garry
 

Dennis Mapletoft

Tenderfoot
Oct 23, 2005
81
0
61
MELTON MOWBRAY / Leics
i am 43 and wish i was 38, then i wouldnt have gone to work the night i broke my hip, i got a new metal one last year.. Arthritis in both knees and hands, i have slowed a bit but i aint stoped, i now dont need the weather man to tell me when its going to rain :lmao:
You go for it, you will enjoy yourself i'm sure...... Yours Den ;)
 

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