Sunday, March 25, 2007

Not Dead Yet






Faithful readers (OK, my wife and I……ok, ok-ME) may remember my athletic disgrace at Kurodani Temple and my subsequent pathetic defeat at the hands of Father Time. (see “Old Man take a look at my Life”) Today’s’ message of hope is strictly for those brave souls who are NOT Generation MySpace (and to clarify this difference let’s just say that if you’ve ever actually used a manual typewriter, not just seen one in the movies, kids, then this post is for you; if not then you may want to skip this but I probably didn’t even need to write that since Generation MySpace and those following are already somewhere else mutterings things like, “Dude…that’s like…sooo many words.” or “Tha fuck, Yo! This shit like… don’t even rhyme and shit!” or “GAWD… old people like….don’t even know anything….there’s like not even any music.”) and my message today is a simple one-Our youth is gone, our bodies in decline and facing the harsh reality of the law of diminishing returns but, say it loud and proud- WE AIN’T DEAD YET!
Yes I went back to slay the dragon at Kurodani, enormously painful as that act was, and can report that I’ve since ran my circuit, jumped my rope (for some period of skillful minutes) then returned home sweaty and sore but smiling, strong and, wonder of wonders, ready for more. In my 3rd week of self imposed physical discipline I discovered that most elusive of all aerobic windfalls, the second wind. Ah, the minor glory of pushing yourself to the limit and then suddenly finding at the exact moment of collapse that there is a wee bit more fresh gas left in your rusty old tank. Age be damned, I can honestly state that thus far the old bones and worn out muscles have held up remarkably well and, in fact, have improved ever so slightly on every occasion. I now look forward to my thrice weekly workout like a 16 yr. old boy looks forward to his 1st piece of sweet pussy, with my ancient and distinct advantage being that I actually know what I’m doing when I get there and can calculate exactly when I'm going to get back.
And so I can report that my bitter, ankle twisted, elderly, first day shuffle home is a distant if informative memory.
We can learn from our follies and we can be stronger than we think given the will to do so and perhaps a tiny incentive. My personal tiny incentives are the appreciative evaluations I infrequently receive from attractive females and, contrastingly, the absolute indifference radiating from smoking sexbombs that I am treated to on a much more regular basis as of late. Yea, yea, yea. I’m most definitely juvenile in that way but that particular truth doesn’t hurt me anywhere near as much as complete disdain from the fairer sex does and so I fight the tide as we must all do or try to do.
Now the News.
Although I’ve run through Kurodani on many occasions now and have walked, sat, drank, smoked and generally loitered throughout its environs on many more, for some inexplicable reason I have completely failed to notice this.



This is the 3rd stair set (the final frontier?) and somehow, perhaps unconsciously, I’ve passed by without noticing it until today when that intimidating height practically leered its bold challenge into my face. “Feeling cocky, boy?” it sneered, “then come get me.” After already jumped on these (below) this particular monster is no mean 44 yr. old feat for this kid. On this day I declined (discretion being the better part of valor) because, how can I simply state it, well.............. I’m not that 16 yr. old blueballed kid with a raging hard-on who has to jam it into the first wet hole he can find; I’m old, bold and I’m gonna take my time and nail that fucker to the wall; shoot up those steps like a bat out of hell and play “Rocky” at the top when I get there or die trying.
Yes you may have noticed, as I did, that those steps lead straight through a cemetery (one of the oldest in Kyoto as a matter of fact, the Temple was founded in 1174) and I’ll leave the symbolism for you to make of it what you will but, suffice to say, my “die trying” remark may be more realistic than I would currently like to admit. Because I can’t quite see the top from this vantage point I don’t yet know if, possibly, there may be a 4th set of leg crunchers when I get there or, who can say, maybe there’s a Fountain of Youth or Stairway to Heaven but victory goes to the brave and I have only positive strength in my heart to go along with the creaky knees.
I’m 44 with my foot to the floor baby! Oops…..sorry…….. I just got a little carried away due to the post run adrenalin dump but, fear much or not, I will share the results of my quest.
To be continued….........................................................................................

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