Getting Old

 I’ve spent the last two days working on ladders. I have a 12-foot folding ladder and a 24-foot extension ladder and spent the days using the big one on Sunday and the smaller one today. Sunday I had some elm branches that needed trimming some 20 feet in the air. The 24-foot ladder is aluminum, but its length requires some heavy aluminum to be able to withstand a 200 pound man on an angle at over 20 feet in the air. It was heavy when I bought it over 20 years ago. Now that I am 68 years old and hadn’t used the ladder in a while, I realized how much muscle strength I have lost in those 20 years. I was worn out just carrying and setting the ladder up at three different places around the tree. That was before wielding the chain saw up the ladder and extending outward to cut off some large limbs.  I also felt very insecure being up that high after not being so high for several years now. In my younger years, I had excellent balance on ladders or roofs, now at my age, not so much. Some days I am pretty good, others I won’t even get on a two step ladder. The trimming and hauling all the fallen limbs took several hours more, so I slept pretty well last night.

Today, Monday, I was up on the smaller ladder, which with all the folding joints is much heavier than a regular 12-foot ladder. The gutter on the back of the house was filled with leaves so I had to move and then go up and down the ladder 8 times. Today, there were hundreds of wasps and lady bugs flitting around the house, trying to find a way in for some warmth this winter. I have worked extensively this fall to caulk up any openings they may have used in the past. I am hoping that is the reason they were all flying around looking for entrances. This fall I have been constantly reminded of how much strength I have lost in my aging process. I never was a strong man, but now it has become very disconcerting to me.

On another note, Joyce has replenished her pantry for the winter. She is always pleased when it is full and this year it is bursting at the seams, see below.

One thing that is better after the first frost of the year is turnips. Here is Rhett's turnip patch out in the woods.