The house pictured above was moved from a location downtown, five or six blocks away from where it started.  I’m confused as to why the home is elevated in the sky.  The architect side of me has yet to come up with an answer.  Let’s have a contest.  You tell me what you think the end construction will be, what it will look like, and if you guess correctly you will receive all the notoriety this blog can provide.  Good luck!

Recently my home teaching companion, Bill, and I were asked to come to a church member’s home.  The invitation was a response to the need for a blessing for the sick.  Bill and I arrived at the member’s front door at the same time, both of us with apparent physical problems of our own.  Bill had thrown his back out the day before, my knee was swollen and stiff, the result of a knee injection that had become infected.

Roxie, the lady of the house, led us to the living room where we found her husband Bob lying on the sofa, unable to get up because of ongoing back problems.  Also in the living room were friends of theirs, Ron and Joyce.  Joyce was suffering from cancer and her husband Ron was dealing with a rotator cuff tear.

Eyeing the scene before me I could not help but wonder, “Are the golden years really so golden?”  The only person in the room that appeared healthy was Roxie.  The rest of us were dealing with one physical ailment or another.  “What’s so golden about this setting?”  I was the adolescent in the room.  “Physically, is this what I have to look forward to?”  

If you haven’t yet reached your “golden years” don't let the current hype about the joys fool you.  Are they really the best of times?  I’m 62-years-young, have a wonderful wife with four grown and successful children and seven adorable grandchildren.  I’ve had a fulfilling career, I’m in good health (excepting a knee that needs replacing), active in church, and we appear to be financially secure.  Lisa and I live comfortably in our home in the community of Anacortes.  But I’m growing old and not liking it.  It’s the realization that it’s all downhill from here no matter how hard I try to maintain an upbeat attitude.  In my opinion, anyone over 62 who claims to be happy, or even content, with his or her present physical condition either is lying or belongs to a very fortunate minority.

So, to all of you still in the prime of life, enjoy what you have now.  Smell the roses while your sense of smell is still acute.  Listen to the birds while you can still hear.  Get up in the morning and be glad you are alive, really alive.

Lately I’ve been thinking about friends of ours, Pete and Sari Goodmonson.  Pete and Sari are in Europe for a couple of years, driving around in a small camper van, seeing the sights, and experiencing what the different cultures have to offer.  Sari posts pictures and stories of their travels on Facebook and it all seems so appealing. 

Our friends have initiated a life altering practice of putting “experiences” first, enjoying a richer life as opposed to putting “things” first.  Since we only have so much life to invest, Pete and Sari have decided how they want to spend theirs.  Instead of spending their time driving to the mall to buy stuff, they would rather invest their time enjoying the world. 

At another point on the spectrum we find the life of Tim and Lisa Cornelius.  We are chronically busy working away in the life we have built for ourselves.  Lisa has given me the opportunity for a different career, yet Lisa still toils away, day after day to provide us with the necessities of life.  Or are they really necessities?  At the end of the day can I say that what Lisa is doing is really making her happy, finding her fulfillment, and having real purpose.  No, but it pays the bills.

Pete and Sari have discovered the art of traveling light in life.  Someday I hope Lisa and I can find a happy medium between two differing lifestyles.

Those of you who are my “fitbit” friends have noticed my usual 100K steps per week have dropped to around 40K the last few weeks.  I went to my orthopedic doctor a few weeks ago and got another injection on Synvisc in my left knee.  Big mistake.  My knee didn’t take kindly to the injection and it became infected, stiff and swollen.  It was very frustrating, because of my lack of mobility, as I couldn’t go walking or running with Lisa and Demri when Demri was visiting.

I saw the doctor a week following the injection and he was grieved by the swelling and infection.  “Synvisc is not supposed to cause that reaction!”  He quickly gave me an injection of cortisone to help ease the pain and reduce the swelling.  It has been almost two weeks and the swelling has finally subsided, but the pain still remains.  I made the mistake of playing a round of golf earlier in the week and I think my days of long walks are done until I get a partial knee replacement.   I’m in a woebegone condition.